1. Guides and Templates.It is important for a magazine to be consistent in design, not only from one page to another, but also from one edition to the next one. All the big brands such as Sports Illustrated, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest or Men’s Health have a style that they keep for a long time before deciding to totally revamp it. It’s like web design, changing your page’s design too often will not help you build a strong visual identity.
2. Budget.We live in tough financial times and it is not always easy to find images, icons or whatever you might need. Fortunately there are some cheap stock-art websites on the internet and photo-sharing sites such as Flickr or deviantART which will come in very handy. Most of the photographers will not ask for money if you want to use their work, although they will retain the copyright after publication and will probably ask for a credit.
3. Learn to Color Balance your Photos.If your photos look terrible and you have no clue how to make them look good... down load this pdf explaining how to color balance your photos "by the numbers". Written by Photoshop training expert Dan Margulis at Ledet it is great way to understand how color works.