Simple tips for starting out:

Rank up by committing crimes, and attempting to get your license.

Save up money for inter-city transportation- NOTE: The cars you steal through Grand Theft Auto, and these modes of transportation serve different purposes. To buy an inter-city method of travel, on the bottom menu: City >> Factory(lower left box). They’re in the drop-down menu to the right. Cost for transport ranges from $75,000 to $10,000,000. I’m not sure on the lower ones, but with the top-end plane, you may travel to different cities once every 5 minutes.

Travelling is important because the best moneymaker in the game is running coke(and, to a much lesser extent, booze). To do this, on the lower menu: Crimes >> [Drugs or Booze]. To find out what each city is buying/selling for, go Status >> Statistics(the one on the right side). From there, at the top, select Prices. The higher your rank, the more drugs/booze you may carry at any time.

Training your driving skill is a very time-consuming process- Aside from donating and spending Golden Bars(CrimeInc’s BP) on the license, it’s going to take plenty of time. Once you hit 25%, iirc, you’ll be able to start stealing cars, which you can sell or auction off. If you steal Facel Vega FV1’s, they fetch the most money, as they’re the vehicle of choice for later on in the game, when you can group up to pull in some real money.

Any other questions? Just ask!