<p>Mining is easy to do but doing it competitively isn't. You can start mining on your personal computer to get a feel but you will make no profits from it.</p><p><br></p><p>Few tips I'd give:</p><ul><li>try to join a p2p pool. These are decentralized networks of miners where there is no single leader like in normal mining pools. Solo mining is almost impossible to compete with pools.</li><li>monitor your thermals: mining for long hours can damage your hardware</li><li>If you use an ASIC (mining rig): make sure to test it properly for the promised hash rate, and make sure you have the needed power supply</li></ul>