1. Measure twice and cut once.  This old saying for builders applies equally to software projects.  SharePoint provides a broad set of functions which may be used to build different types of solutions.  You should plan what you want the site to do and your priorities for using SharePoint features.
    
2. Apply your branding to the site.  End users really appreciate the way you customize the look and feel to match your corporate style.
    
3. Differentiate between clean and messy areas. While your corporate intranet should carry consistent design, content and navigation, your team sites may be more in flux, and they are a great place to experiment with new web parts and functionality.
    
4. Configuration is better than customization. You can accomplish a great deal with readily available web parts and through features such as custom lists and views without going into web part development from scratch.
    
5. Learn to like the way it works out of the box.  Even if you would have written the product differently yourself, be cautious about changing the standard behavior of the product, as these changes are difficult to implement and support. 
    
6. Don’t forget the training. End users need brief training and system administrators need much more.  Microsoft offers extensive technical documentation available on its website www.microsoft.com. 
    
7. Get ready for the next version.  A portal or intranet grows and evolves, so prepare for new content, periodic facelifts, and reorganization of the site structure. 
    
8. Take the SharePoint server seriously.  Plan for backup, restore, disaster recovery and security just as you would any mission critical application. 
    
9. Throw some dedicated hardware at it.  Beyond a small number of users you will benefit from dedicating hardware or even virtual servers for each of the server roles involved in SharePoint.  SharePoint Portal Server offers you more options here than Windows SharePoint Services. 
    
10. Get feedback from users and adjust.  Use the Surveys capability to ask users for input on the portal.  Analyze the usage data that SharePoint provides to improve navigation and content quality.
    

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