Your squelch tail brought you here.
GMRS is for personal, not commercial, use. You cannot use it for business operations or to coordinate employees. It is licensed for you and your immediate family members - your spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws (per 95.1705(c)(2)). See the Etiquette & Best Practices guide for more on proper radio conduct.
Terrain is the biggest factor in UHF range. Hills, buildings, and dense foliage all reduce range. Higher elevation and line-of-sight dramatically improve it. If you are frustrated with short range, a repeater is usually the answer. See Range Expectations for a deeper look.
Before you transmit anything, spend time just listening. Scan through the GMRS channels and get a feel for what is active in your area. You will quickly learn which channels are busy, where local repeaters are, and what the general tone of your local community is like. New operators who listen first transmit with more confidence.
A few rules that keep things running smoothly for everyone:
The full rundown is in the Etiquette & Best Practices guide.
Nothing is worse than being in a situation where you need to use your radio and spending 10 minutes fumbling through menus. Program your channels before you leave home. At minimum, set up the 8 standard GMRS simplex channels and any local repeaters you plan to use.
CHIRP is free software that makes programming most radios straightforward. See the Programming with CHIRP guide for a walkthrough. If you are still shopping for a radio, the Choosing a Radio guide covers what to look for.
Most repeaters - and many simplex users - require a CTCSS tone (also called a PL tone) or DCS code to open the squelch. If you key up on a repeater and get no response, a missing or wrong tone is the most common cause. You will need to know the tone for each repeater you want to use and program it into your radio's transmit tone setting.
Your receive tone squelch (CTCSS RX) can be set to only break squelch when that tone is present, which cuts out a lot of noise on busy channels. See the CTCSS & DCS Tones guide for the full explanation.
Repeaters extend your range dramatically and are how most active GMRS operators connect with their local community. Search for repeaters in your area, program them in, and try calling out: just say your callsign and "listening." Many repeater groups hold weekly nets - a scheduled on-air gathering - which are a great way to make contact and get comfortable on the radio. See Using Repeaters to get started.
A net is a scheduled on-air gathering, usually weekly, run by a net control operator who calls on participants one at a time. They are low pressure and friendly, especially to new operators. Checking into a net is one of the best ways to practice radio procedure, hear how experienced operators handle things, and start building a local contact list. Ask on any active repeater in your area whether there is a local GMRS net.
The GMRS community is generally welcoming to newcomers. If you are unsure about something - a tone, a local repeater, proper procedure - just ask. Identify yourself, explain you are new, and ask your question. Most operators are happy to help. You will get better answers faster on the air than searching forums.