So, emails.

First off, I’m going to be tackling this under the assumption that you have either met this person directly (in person) or indirectly (through recommendations, etc). Cold calling/emailing doesn’t tend to work from the people I’ve talked to, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Generally, after meeting someone and getting their contact details, it’s polite to email them within a few days to thank them. If you want to try and meet for coffee, go ahead and ask. Should you get no response, don’t worry. Lots of people are busy and unless it’s a really important email, yours will probably get shuffled off to the side for a later reply. Don’t be afraid to send the email again if you’ve got a question, but wait a while before doing so (we wait two weeks usually).

If you’re trying to establish some kind of relationship, the key thing is to keep yourself visible. This doesn’t mean bombard them with questions. You can do that, but it’s worth it to give them an update on what you are doing. This keeps them from forgetting about you, and should you guys/gals meet up again in the future, they will have some kind of an idea of what you’ve been doing and can help from there.

Keep emails short, don’t ask too many questions, and if you’re going to thank somebody, it’s almost always better to write them a (handwritten) letter or even call them instead of email.

Really, a lot of this is just common sense. You have to feel your way through a lot of it and stuff that works for us might not work for you. In the end, you’re going to have to figure it out yourself. Good luck!