Someone asked me how long to wait before following up with a contact he was trying to reach. He had already sent two emails.

It depends on the situation. In this case, he was trying to reach someone whose name he had received as a potential networking contact. It wasn’t a simple confirmation conversation that the contact could answer via a return voice mail message. They didn’t know each other at all. I suggested that he try calling – at a time when he was more likely to get him on the phone. I find I can often catch people right before business hours or right at the end of the day. Or, try and reach the receptionist (the “0” phone key is a fairly universal way of by-passing most voice mail systems to reach the operator) and ask if he or she has any suggestions about how to reach your target, opps I mean, contact.

Don’t leave more than three messages – either by email or voice mail. Wait a couple of days in between. If you’re asking them for more than five minutes of their time – don’t get annoyed or impatient. Keep in mind that it’s their time schedule you’re fitting into, not yours.