I've never hooked up with anyone before and wanted to start trying. But I have no idea how to go about it. Its not like you can walk up to someone and say "lets hookup tonight"

Like I understand, the basic, introduce yourself, make conversation, don't be boring, make them laugh,

but first off, how do you go about being interesting in the first few minutes of conversation,

then how do you get from friendly conversation and getting to know each other, to hooking up at your place or theirs?