Although these tips can be used by anyone, they are written primarily for guys.  This is only because women don’t typically need nearly as much help as the guys do.  Also, please note that for most women, it will take a more gradual approach to getting a date with them.  For example, you meet somehow, then get a phone number or email, then get in touch again, and then after at least one or two calls or emails, you would actually set up a first “date”.  The purpose of this article is to give some tips that can help you get a date right now.  Even though many people like to “warm up” to someone first, the truth of the matter is this: guys and girls will sometimes find themselves sitting around feeling lonely and having no real plans for the evening (or day).  Hopefully, this will help you accelerate the process and get you on a date right now! 

1.  Have a plan.  First of all, you need to think ahead a bit.  You don’t want to just spend all of your time trying to get a date lined up, and then not have anything planned to do.  It will definitely be much easier to get a date, if you have a definite plan.  For example, you could simply be planning on going to see a new movie that’s out, or going to see a concert, or just going for a bike ride or walk.  Either way, it should be something that you are genuinely interested in doing.  This way, there’s a little less pressure about the whole “date” thing.  You can invite someone to join you in doing something that you were going to do with or without a date.  Once you’ve got some ideas for some things to do, you can move on to the next tips. 

2.  Call a friend.  This one can go several ways.  First of all, if you know any girls that are really just friends, you’ve got a huge advantage.  For one, there’s always the possibility that the friend could eventually evolve into a girlfriend.  This is rare, but it is possible.  Secondly, if you have a cool female friend that you can hang out with, it will make you more attractive to other women when you’re out with her since women judge men partially by their valuation from other women.  (This is a topic for a whole different article.)  Also, the more attractive the woman you are with is, the more women will take interest in you.  Either way, it’s definitely good to hang out with female friends.  As long as she knows that you’re not on a “date”, and that you are actively looking to meet women, she can help.  Just by being there, she will enable other women to let their guards down.  Women are much more approachable and easy to talk to if they think that you are already with someone.  Another bonus of the female friend is her friends.  If she genuinely likes you as a friend, she may introduce you to some of her girlfriends or female co-workers, etc. 

3.  Craigslist.  This one can be very rewarding, but it will take some patience.  The good news is that it’s free, and a lot of people use it.  Craigslist is one of the most visited websites in the world.  The bad news is that it’s very easy for people to create fake personal ads.  Some are prostitutes, some are fakes trying to get you to join some adult websites, and some are just strange people that have nothing better to do.  Either way, it’s fairly easy to weed out the fake ones.  First of all, you can create a free personal ad by just visiting Craigslist.com, and choosing the major city that’s nearest you.  Then you just click on which “Personals” you want to post in (like “men seeking women”).  Create a simple ad that gives enough information to describe your personality and tastes, but don’t tell your entire life story.  Then make it clear that you’re looking for company for tonight, but be specific.  Real women will not respond to a guy just looking for someone to come over and have sex tonight, but they may respond if you’re looking for a date to see a play or a concert.  Also, do not mention anything about sex!  This will never attract “real” women to your ad.  It will only attract fakes.  Don’t be afraid to post a photo too.  If you don’t, you are greatly reducing your chances of anyone responding to your ad.  To avoid the “fakes”, it’s simple.  If their photos look like model shots, or they are half naked, then they’re more than likely fake.  Also, if in their ad, or in their email messages, they talk about sex or just sound way to good to be true, then they probably are.  Real women want to know about you.  They won’t waste their time describing how hot they are and how much they like you already (how could they, since you’ve never met yet?). 

4.  Join MySpace & Facebook.  This could get quite lengthy, so I’m not going into great detail.  The basics are this:  Join both websites.  They’re both free, and they both have hundreds of millions of people.  There’s many ways to meet people, whether it’s from contacting old friends or classmates to chatting in forums or groups where you have common interests.  The best quality of both sites is probably the way that the “friend” networks work.  To make a long story short, if you have a “friend”, then their “friends” will see you on their “friend” list.  People are voyeurs, and love to check out everyone else’s “friends”.  This puts you “out there” giving you a little more exposure, which could always result in meeting someone.  Once you’ve got this established, you can log on anytime of day and contact “friends” or make new ones. 

5.  Join dating websites.  Believe it or not, there are some decent dating websites that are free.  You’ve got nothing to lose by putting yourself out there.  Join as many as you want.  Why not, if they’re free?  Just be weary of the many sites that say that it’s “free to join” but then after you join, you find out that you need to “upgrade” to actually contact or be contacted by other members.

6.  Visit a bookstore.  This one’s pretty simple.  Just go visit one of the larger chain bookstores (the kind that don’t mind if you’re hanging out for a while), and simply spend some time honestly checking out some books on subjects that genuinely interest you.  Then, when a girl comes to your section, you’ll have something in common to start a conversation about.  If things go well, you could move the conversation over to Starbucks over coffee.  That’s an instant “date”!   

7.  What about your co-workers?  Again, this one has several facets to it.  One is that you’ve already got something in common if you work together, so it should be easier to ask someone out (assuming it’s ok with your boss).  Just make it real casual, like “hey, let’s stop for coffee after work tonight”.  Try something like that rather than dinner or drinks.  That way it doesn’t feel like a real “date”.  The advantage of this is that if things don’t go well, then it shouldn’t be awkward seeing her at work the next day.  Even if you don’t end up “dating” a co-worker, you may develop a good female friend that can still possibly hook you up with a friend of hers.  Besides, any time out with a woman is also giving you more opportunities to develop your “dating skills”. 

8.  Join a forum.  This one probably won’t happen in just one day, but once you get yourself established (like with MySpace, etc.) it’s a great way to meet other people that have common interests.  Nowadays, there’s a forum for just about any subject or hobby.  For example, if you have a passion for cooking, I’m sure that you can find a great cooking forum to join.  Then just stay active on the forum by answering questions, giving tips, asking questions, exchanging ideas, etc.  Most forums allow you to create a profile with a picture, so if someone likes some of your posts, they will be interested in checking out your profile.  If you live nearby, you could make a date to cook for each other. 

9.  Exercise.  If these tips were in order (which they’re not) this one would definitely be near the top.  First of all, exercise makes you feel better, look better, and have more self confidence.  Second of all, no matter where you exercise, there are usually other people around (unless you’re in your basement).  Go to the beach, the gym, or just walk on the trails near your neighborhood.  Just don’t try to talk to someone with headphones on or interrupt a girl that’s obviously in the middle of a serious workout.  Bad idea…

10.  Try your cell phone.  I saved this one for last, since it’s almost a joke.  It absolutely can work, but it’s should really be more of an experiment or a last resort.  To do this, you’ll need to already have a bunch of women’s phone numbers.  Maybe they’re from girls that you met a long time ago, but never really got a chance to hit it off with, or numbers from girls that gave you their number, but never returned your calls.  Either way, here’s what you do:  Create an event to do, like going to a movie or concert, and then you “accidentally” send a text to all the girls on your phone saying something like “that sucks that you can’t make it tonight”.  Of course when they get the message, they’ll be confused, and probably call or text you back asking what’s going on.  Then you just explain that you’re “date” or “friend” had to cancel on you at the last minute, and you texted them on accident.  But, then you go ahead and invite them to join you by saying something like “hey, would you like to go to the show with me?”  I hate to lie, but there’s really no one getting hurt here.  Even if the girls that respond are not interested or are unavailable, they may have a friend that is.  What have you got to lose? 

In conclusion, these tips for getting a date tonight are just the beginning.  The bottom line is to think outside the box.  Most people think that you need to get all dressed up, go drinking at some expensive nightclub, and try to score some phone numbers only to end up playing phone tag before hopefully scheduling an actual “date”.  These tips are more about utilizing other resources to meet girls, and casually invite them to do something now.  If the timing is right, and you can hit it off well with someone, it should be pretty easy to get a date tonight…