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The time when email really falls down is when people don't reply. This is usually because their inboxes are even more chaotic than your own and the only emails they'll see are the ones at the top of the stack. 

To make sure your message gets spotted, you need to chase someone up, getting your email to the top of their inbox until they reply. This may sound annoying but you won't believe the amount of times people have thanked me for reminding them. 

It doesn't take too much work to chase up but you do have to be organised for it to work. So the next time you send an email you want a reply to, take a note of the date - either in your to-do list and calendar and when you'd like to hear back from them by. A week is usually a good amount of time to wait and then, if you still don't get a reply, send another email two weeks later and a final email after three weeks. 

If they're still not getting a reply, something must be wrong. You can try calling, tracking down an alternative email address or someone else who works with the person. @-ing on Twitter is always worth a shot too.