Awesome thing one: nobody wants anything to do with you early on. All three of your neighbors are primarily concerned with being on the big side of their respective triangles, and will usually have a hard time with the commitment of force that opening in your direction entails. That's because...
Awesome thing two: Italy is really easy to defend. Three armies, one in Piedmont, one in Venice, and one in Apulia, Rome, or Tuscany, can defend Italy from any landborne attack. As for the sea, hostile Mediterranean fleets can come from Marseilles, Trieste, or the Turkish centers. Five total. You can generally prevent fleets from being built in two of them with cursory diplomacy, and Turkish fleets are pretty easy to see coming. Italy's secure starting position gives him lots of freedom to attack whomever he damn well pleases, as long as he gets the diplomacy right. Thankfully...
Awesome thing number three: Italian early-game diplomacy is easy. You've got three buddies: England, Russia, and Germany. All three are worried about your neighbors: France, Austria, Turkey. Everyone wants to be on the 2-side of a 2-on-1 alliance in their theater. YOU have the power to offer 3-on-1 alliances. E/G/I versus France, anyone? If England OR Germany agrees to attack France, let the other know and encourage him not to get left out. If England and Germany look shady, give Russia a holler and stomp around in the East together. Make sure to promise him Vienna and Budapest. And if all else fails...
Awesome thing number three: Tunis. I NEVER go for Greece in 1901, simply because of the strong chance I won't get it. Tunis, on the other hand, can't be contested. But that's only the beginning. Later in the game, if things aren't going so well for Italy, a fleet in Tunis can keep Italy alive as a Janissary. It has a windshield wiper-like range of potential support around some of the most hotly contested sea space on the board. And it's also right in the middle, so you can form the point of either a Turkish or French spear.