1) Exchanges are okay to keep a few satoshis (but I have updated "Step one" to make it clearer)
2) Faucets are one way to get a few satoshis quickly... I personally prefer playing games (Step three)
You need 0.5usd to start using Quatloo Trader so doing faucets and playing games in 2 days you should have enough to get access to the software.
Then you can start trading and see if you want to invest some real cash.
Bitcoins is a risky investment. People should not buy to invest, I think they should use it as a payment system. Unless they want to learn about trading.
but after that it is best to go to a decent wallet instead