I would also suggest going to a crop. My friend who is a CM consultant has them about once a month and I can share ideas with others and buy supplies at the same time. I also find the Creative Keepsakes magazine has good ideas to get me going. The CM idea books are great too.
I guess to actually answer your question I would have to say the very first step is to organize your photos. I like to decide what the album will be about and then put my pictures in order.
The album I'm doing now is about when we built our house so it's in chronological order. My WDW album is not. I did it more in sections: Each park, a 2 page spread on various fountains, a spread on the kids eating treats, Mickey's Halloween Party, etc.
Next you need to decide what type of album you want to use and then what type of adhesive. Your on your own there because everybody has their favorite!!!

You might want to try a couple of different adhesives at first to see what you like. That's another great thing about crops- everybody is usually willing to let you try something of theirs.