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Portrait photos are lots of fun, if you can get everything right.

One good tip is to remember to put a reflection in their eyes, so they don't seem flat/fake. To do this you can use something either shiny, like a car window shade (like the ones you use to reflect sun-shine from coming into your car during the summer, keeping it cooler) or something white, like a large piece of paper, or a white poster board.

Depending on who you are photographing, catching the personality of your subject is very important, it can make or break a photo. Don't be afraid of catching them off-guard, but you can also pose them, but make everything comfortable. Its like taking photos of animals (this is from personal experience), the person you are shooting won't cooperate if you try too hard to pose them. Make everything feel natural and comfortable.

Backgrounds are important too, as well as sufficient lighting. For beginners, natural light works best, usually with an overcast day to make the shadows on your subject's face soft. If the lighting is poor, it'll make a bad photo, whether or not your other technical skills and model are good.

Lastly photo editing is the best way to make good photos great. Photoshop is the best for that, but its very expensive if you don't have it, and it takes a long time to learn. Picnik.com is similar, but simpler, and a lot of the basic tools to edit photos. But make sure not to overdo it, subtle changes are better than massive ones.

You would need to familiarize yourself with your camera. Read the manual and check out all the stuff you can do with the camera. Know the limitations of your camera, the different features, etc. This will really help you a lot in your photography, Brush up on the basics of photography as well, or even some of the more advanced concepts and techniques. You could also look at the works of other professional photographers, study their styles. This will help you in developing and finding your own style.

Well are you taking pictures of people like a school foto or just pics of friends? If it's a school like foto then make them look more alive, mess with the colours, and don't be afraid to move the people around to make it look natural. And if it's fotos of friends then snap the picture when they don't know it. Catch them when they are being themselves and not just posing for the camera, also editing almost always makes a picture look better.

Hope I helped :D