Do you have an investment account and associated financial advisor? If so you can can ask them if there are shares available for you. During the initial "road show" where the people bringing the company to market visit various banks, those banks will "subscribe" to buy a number of shares at the IPO price. If you bank was one of the ones subscribed you may be able to request some of the shares.
If your bank is not participating, you can simply put in a market order to buy shares on the first day. That isn't particularly smart because if the shares are in a lot of demand the tend to "pop" up in value before sinking again. So for example I watched the Facebook IPO but didn't actually buy any until it dropped down to $18[1] (which was below the IPO price).
The important thing to remember is that if the company is going to be successful, there will be lots of room to grow after the IPO, and if it isn't there will be plenty of opportunities to buy the stock below the IPO price. There is a tremendous amount of activity right around the IPO as the new and old investors sort out their opinion of the value of the company. Its often better to wait a month or two to get a look at how the company is doing before deciding to invest or not.
[1] I then sold half when it hit $36 and the rest when it hit $54.
If your bank is not participating, you can simply put in a market order to buy shares on the first day. That isn't particularly smart because if the shares are in a lot of demand the tend to "pop" up in value before sinking again. So for example I watched the Facebook IPO but didn't actually buy any until it dropped down to $18[1] (which was below the IPO price).
The important thing to remember is that if the company is going to be successful, there will be lots of room to grow after the IPO, and if it isn't there will be plenty of opportunities to buy the stock below the IPO price. There is a tremendous amount of activity right around the IPO as the new and old investors sort out their opinion of the value of the company. Its often better to wait a month or two to get a look at how the company is doing before deciding to invest or not.
[1] I then sold half when it hit $36 and the rest when it hit $54.