I will begin with simple councils.
1. Do not hurry up! Be trained slowly and persistently. It is better to spend every day on an hour or two for studying of programs, than once a month jerky to try to learn and master all program.
2. Raise complexity gradually. Many beginners of digitizing ruins desire to make at once something outstanding. Lift complexity of works gradually, putting into operation all new tools and possibilities.
3. Do not expect for the program. You always should understand that the program does. Unfortunately programs are not perfect and sometimes do errors (I will tell about them) which should be corrected manually.
4. Get a work diary; write down there the data on use of those or other tools, the data (for example, density changes covering). It is important.
5. Get convenient toolkit. Unfortunately, the mouse is badly suitable tool for digitizing. It long moves on a table, and has problems with positioning. I recommend to buy an inexpensive tablet (an order to 100$) - I use Wacom. Take only that tablet where there is no wire to a feather.
6.If you plan to do all these things professionally, we must be prepared to acquire professional software (Wilcom. Wilcom DecoStudio, Tajima Pulse, Wings, EOS Compucon..) This position will allow you to save time and money. The basic mistake many novice digitizers - this is what they are trying to do professional work unprofessional embroidery software. To achieve the required quality will be very difficult. Professional embroidery software is expensive. So what would you choose a suitable program - try to contact the dealer for a download trial or demo version. Do not stop at the first option - try all the embroidery software. go to forums and ask questions of those who are already working with this software.