When soldering make sure you heat the wire up enough so the solder will flow across the wire and connection point.
Do not just apply solder to the end of the soldering iron without the wire being hot enough.

This is great advice, heat the wire until the solder flows onto it. Don't melt the solder with the iron let the wire do it. You will see great results that way.

Watch out for solder drips onto other wiring , etc. I place a old cloth were solder may land.

Haha, also a very helpful tip!
I managed to drip solder onto my (somewhat expensive) carpet due to forgetting to cover the splash areas. Trust me when I say solder does not come out, you can cut it out though.