Before you get started trading stocks you are going to want to get a good online broker. Many brokers do not cater to trading in penny stocks. They will often charge more per share for stocks under $2 or so. Before you begin shopping for a broker there are some important things to keep in mind.
ReliabilityYou want to get a broker that is either SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) or NASD (National Association Of Securities Dealers) certified. SIPC will protect you money in the event the broker goes under. Sort of similar to how your money at a bank is protected by FIDC.
PriceFor small retail investors like ourselves low commission costs are very important. I cannot stress that enough. If you trade frequently commissions add up over time and will diminish your bottom line. Most traders that go it alone will fail over 90% of the time. Any edge commission wise you can get will help prevent losses from adding up.
Think about it. If you spend $20 for each trade you are automatically down $40 no matter how the stock performs. If you have a string of losing trades that $40 bucks adds up quick and depletes your capital base. Capital preservation is the most important thing about stock trading. You can't make trades if you loose your money!
For people with small accounts Zecco.com has good rates on trades. They charge just $4.50 per trade no matter what the price of the stock. Tradeking has $4.95 trades but for stocks under $1 they charge an extra $.01 per share. This makes trading true penny's hard. TD Ameritrade as far as I know has flat rates which are good for the penny's.
These two areas I have touched on, price and the ability to know your funds are retrievable are two of the most important things when choosing a broker. So, be careful on not extremely getting high prices on brokerage commissions and learning how to buy penny stocks will be a lot easier on ones wallet.