Good advice all around. I'd like to add my 2 cents. Women naturally gravitate towards confidence and masculine characteristics, not just physical but also mental ones. It is an unfortunate fact that from a purely evolutionary and biological perspective, women can afford to be more picky with their choice of mates than men, and indeed they are. If you're a woman, you don't need to be smart, witty, funny, educated, well-paid or anything else as long as you are reasonably pretty. And even if you're not, there's a lot you can compensate for with make-up. You WILL get attention from the opposite sex without having to put in any effort: of course, the quality of your suitors may not always match the quantity, but still.
However, I don't mean to bring down your spirits, as there is a silver lining behind every cloud. I myself have made a little empirical study on the matter, tried different things just to see what works and what doesn't. As mentioned above, coming on too strong and eager tends to kill your chances; you come across as creepy and desperate. Even if you're super handsome and extremely witty, if you come on too strong, most women will be flustered and intimidated. The key is the balance the female psyche, which can sometimes feel like walking on the edge of a razor, but eventually you'll get the hang of it. Act natural, make conversation, display wit and show that you're not afraid of her. It often helps to move things forward in increments: don't ask if she'd like to join you at your apartment right off the bat.. ask her out for coffee or something 'neutral' at first. And don't worry about her age: older women can be easier to deal with in many ways: they don't play as many games as young women do, they're more straightforward about their intentions and less prone to flaky behavior etc.
And most importantly, if you "fail", or perceive yourself as failing, don't beat yourself up over it. I myself had very little luck with women for a couple of months after my break-up in late August, even though I tried basically every approach and varied my strategy depending on the situation (i.e. less macho and more gentle approach for shy girls, a more confident "I don't give a fl*ff" approach for stuck-up looking ice queens). I did meet women, but I wasn't really into any of them and it never went past the point of meeting up for coffee. I started to get frustrated and altogether disillusioned with the opposite sex: it seemed that younger women were either too immature, flaky, scared or otherwise unapproachable, while all the women in my age bracket and attractive older women were taken, or they had too much baggage from previous relationships. But then all of a sudden the tide turned, and I had 3 hot women eating out of the palm of my hand.. figuratively speaking, of course
One of them, a 30-year old pole dancer, was very apprehensive around me at first. I met her in a nightclub on New Year's eve, and that evening didn't go so well. But I managed to convince her to meet up with me again, which she did, and now's she's totally into me.
Anyways, this turned out to be a long ramble, but I hope you managed to pick out something useful