Hello

It seems like now days you can barely buy anything without having a good score so I want to start focusing on improving my credit score. Now I know I have a couple late payments on my car and a Visa credit card. Also I have one collection from a small Verizon account I closed but never paid the last bill. I don't think I'm too bad with my credit but I know these are things I want to get fixed. How do I go about improving my credit scores? If I pay the collection and make sure not to be late again, then will I have good credit? I basically just want to know what looks good on your credit report in order to improve your score. Thanks for any advice,

Penny