Not sure if I'm the only person in the galaxy still barking enough to be a Smuggler with things the way they are at the moment, but here's my tuppence-worth of tips to make the ride to intergalactic opportunist a little faster:

If you're reading this then you've already got a good headstart as you've taken the crucial step of making some contacts. The guild is full of every profession you can think of, and a wealth of experience and advice.

Use it.

Always have your guildchat open, and it should always be your first port of call with any questions. They're nice people. Be a Smuggler and take advantage of them :)

Part of the benefit of this is that you've made friends with a Smuggler. This'll save you a bundle on training for starters (although you'll still have to visit an npc trainer to get novice: npc trainers on Tatooine are behind the cantina in Eisley and I think there's still one in Mos Krayt near Dune.)

First steps:

I presume that you've already got the pistols and unarmed xp to get novice Smuggler, so here's what to do next:

Get novice medic and novice pistoleer.

I know it sounds perverse, but trust me on this. Novice medic is a life-saver and a must unless you have the meditation line in TK. You can heal your own wounds and yourself during combat with stim-bs and this'll save your butt a lot.

Novice pistoleer is also a must. Smuggler may have some fab pistol specials, but without any other pistol skills you couldn't hit a bantha with a proton torpedo.

Novice pistoleer will also open up some great new pistols for you to use. The DX-2 is still one of my faves and the acid damage is something that not many MOBs have resistance to.

Next steps:

You can do these in any order, so this list is in no particular order (though I'd recommend leaving underworld until last, as it's not really much good unless you're selling faction as a colonel)

Dirty Fighting and Underworld:
This just takes pistol xp. Quenkers on Dantooine are a good bet. Nice xp and not too tough, though you'll still probably need a buff. Or Bantha if you're closer to home.

A nice combo once you get it is /lowblow /lastditch. /lowblow is the only ranged knockdown in the game and it rocks.

And use Feign Death at every opportunity.

Spices:
Bit of a dull grind this. Unfortunately the only spices that are remotely usable in the game at the moment are pixie and muon and you won't get those until spices IV...

First thing is get yourself 2 or 3 general crafting tools. Plus tap the guild for plenty of low-grade cruddy organic resources (or get novice scout and harvest your own) and some metal.

Now it's just a case of sitting and grinding with all 3 tools at the same time. Make shadowpaw (it gives the most xp and you don't need much to make it). Make sure that you use the practice mode or you'll end up with a inventory full of crud that you can't use or sell.

Slicing:
Again, this is where the miracle of your guild comes in. Get hold of your friendly local Smuggler and ask them for some Molecular clamps ad precision laser knives. You're not certed to make lamps 'til later on, but you can use them at any level.

They make the slicing 100% guaranteed rather than a 50/50 guess of which wire to cut.

See if you can grab containers from your guild mates. They'll give them to you to slice and you give them what's in it (usually sod all). Containers are the best xp. You can slice terminals if you want but they're less xp, but you do get bigger payouts on the first screen of missions.

Soon you'll be able to slice weapons and armour. Your slicing percentages mean that you won't stand much of a chance of slicing for the public until you're either a master or have slicing IV, so save yourself the grief and don't bother.

If you have to resort to spamming for containers for xp, try not to be annoying and do it in character. It's a question of style and we all know that Smugglers are the coolest profession in the game :)

Get Weapon upgrade kits from your guild weaponsmith and Armour upgrade kits from the armoursmith (usually 3-4k a crate)

For getting weapon and armour xp for slicing III and IV, I found the best way was to spend a little money on the bazaar. Buy up all those cruddy CDEF weapons at Eisley that go for about 10-50 creds and slice 'em. You'll make xp hand over fist.

That should put you up ready to be Master (as long as you have the 300 AP).

Master tips:
You'll probably now want to slice in public with dreams of making a fortune. Well, good luck, it's a tough galaxy out there.

I honestly make more money faster and with less hassle running missions. Then again, the best rp experiences I've had have been slicing.

A good start is to add some slicing info to your bio. Then get the customer to read it and agree before you start slicing. This covers your ass and should weed out any of the more moronic people before things get tricky.

First up, let them know slicing is random. You or your tool quality has NO EFFECT on the slice type (speed/damage for weapons, effectiveness/encumberance for armour) or the percentage.

Even though they still haven't put it in the skill box, Master Smugglers do get a bonus to slicing. Your lower percent is still a cruddy 15ish, but your upper on weapons is 35% and on armour it's 45% on encumberance.

Next is the issue of price. A lot of people used to charge an amount per % of the slice. If you want to do this, fire away. It's more complicated. I personally don't do it as I refuse to limit my prices because of the random effect of my slice imposed on me by the game. Effectively they're paying not only for your skills and tools, but also your time.

Think about how much you can make running missions. That's probably a better guide to what your time's worth.

As a general guide, most galaxies see someone paying a master around 10k for each slice.

I rarely slice publicly any more, and of course my prices for guild mates are a lot less or free depending on the situation.

Think that's about it.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it on.