Believe it or not, I've got a few piercings...4 in one ear (used to be 5) and only 1 in the other (was up to 4 at one time, but that ear is just grumpy for some reason).
If you're going to pierce, please please PLEASE go to a reputable piercer and not some mall piercing place. Piercing guns are B-A-D news. I was an idiot and got my cartilage done with a gun the first time. It was a problem from the start and took forever to heal once I finally gave up and removed it. I don't care if Claires or wherever will do cartilage piercing, it's not worth it.
Find a good piercer and ask questions. Follow the aftercare instructions completely and don't hesitate to call your piercer if you think something is wrong. Reputable ones will welcome your questions and do what it takes to get your piercing happy. Lastly, make the investment in good body jewelry and choose jewelry that is proven to work in your piercing of choice. For me it took 3 tries: first by gun with lobe jewelry, second at a good piercing/tat studio but mostly had metal problems, and finally third time was the charm at a piercing studio and the right jewelry. My cartilage is very happy with titanium
Safepiercing.org is the website of the Association of Professional Piercers and is a great resource. Piercology.com is also excellent, even if you don't live in Columbus.