We're all familiar with the feeling that the emails we sent must have been sucked into some black hole because we never received a response. Sure, it's possible that your email went straight to spam, but the more likely scenario¹ is either the recipient² isn't interested or is too busy to respond. Here are some tips that may score you a reply:

我们都有过这种想法：发给别人的邮件没回复，是不是凭空消失了啊！嗯，你的邮件可能直接被当做垃圾邮件了，但更有可能是收件人不感兴趣或者忙得没时间回复。下面的一些技巧或许能帮你收到回件：

Check your writing. Make sure the email is free of grammar and punctuation³ errors. It tends to look less professional if it's rife⁴ with mistakes, which may mean your email won't be taken seriously.

检查文法。电子邮件一定不能有语法和标点错误。如果到处是错误，它看起来就不那么专业了，你的邮件也不会被认真对待。

Stay professional but friendly. Watch the tone of your email. Make sure you keep it professional but friendly. And remember not to go overboard with the friendliness⁵. Stay clear of emoticons, an excessive amount of exclamation⁶ marks, and capitalizing words for emphasis — you're not a used-car salesman.

语气专业且友好。注意你邮件里的语气。一定要专业又友好。记住不要显得太亲近。别用表情、太多感叹号和大写字母——你不是二手车推销员。

Keep it short. Try to be as brief as you can. If the person does not know you, she is less likely to spend time reading your email. If you keep your emails short, she's more likely to get through the whole email.

保持简短。内容越简洁越好。如果收件人不认识你，她不太可能花时间看你的邮件。如果内容不多的话，她更愿意看完。

Be specific. You're writing the email for a reason, so you should be clear about your goals. It's even helpful to be specific in the subject line as well, says a former Google recruiter. Using bullet points may also help you get your point across more quickly and help the reader figure out what you want.

主题明确。你是带着目的写邮件的，所以你应该把它讲清楚。一位在谷歌做过招聘的人说在邮件栏里写明主题是很有用的。罗列要点也能让别人更快明白你要说的，而且知道你想要什么。

Get an introduction. If possible, try to get someone to introduce you to the person instead of emailing cold. You'll definitely raise your chances of getting a response with a referral. Scour⁷ your LinkedIn contacts to see if you have any in common with the person you're trying to reach.

让别人介绍。有可能的话，尽量让别人替你引荐而不是用电子邮件联系你想找的人。有人牵线肯定更容易收到回复。看看LinkedIn的联系人里有没有你们都认识的人。

Make sure you check with someone when you use them as a referral. Perhaps your shared contact and the person you're trying to get in touch with have an awkward relationship. It's best not to bring up the shared contact's name if you didn't check in with them before. It could be someone's ex or someone the contact had a falling out with. This will hurt your chances of getting a response.

找到引荐人时要确定一下。也许中间人和你想找的人之间关系有点僵。如果之前没确定过，最好不要提中间人的名字。牵线人可能是那个人的前任，两人也或许不太联系了。这样你收到回信的几率就不高了。

No pressure. Do not immediately ask the contact for a referral. If the contact doesn't know you, it's a huge favor to ask of her. Instead, feel out the situation and commit some time to the contact. Ask her for advice and take her out for coffee. During your conversation, try to feel out if she's willing to refer you, or better yet, wait for her to offer. If she has voiced some discomfort⁸ about referring people, don't push it.

别让中间人有压力。不要让中间人马上推荐。如果她不怎么了解你，引荐就是个很大的人情。你应该掂量目前的情况，给对方一些时间。请她喝杯咖啡，问问她有什么建议。你们聊天时，你试着探她口风，能等她主动提就更好了。如果她说不太喜欢做引荐人，你也别逼得太紧。

Don't bombard. If you haven't received a response, don't keep sending multiple emails in hopes that the person will finally cave. Instead, spread your emails out and limit them. Follow up one week after the initial email, and if you still haven't heard back, send the third email two weeks later. And if no one responds to your third email, it's time to switch gears and try something else. Also, if a person says that they will get back to you if they are interested, you should probably wait for them to get back to you.

不要发很多邮件狂轰滥炸。如果你没收到回复，不要一直发邮件给收件人，希望他们最终会回。你应该分时间发而且要限制数量。第一封邮件发出一周后跟进，如果还没有音信，两周后再发第三封。如果第三封依然石沉大海，你该转变策略试试别的方法了。同样，如果别人说有兴趣的话会回复，你应该等他们回而不是自己去催。

Find the right person. Get the contact information of the right person to reach out to. If you email the wrong person, chances are they may not bother forwarding your email to the right contact because as a stranger, your email would be considered low priority.

收件人的邮箱不要弄错。弄准你想找的人的联系方式。如果你发错了人，他们很可能不会转发给你要联系的那位，因为你是陌生人，你的邮件会被认为是不重要的。

Limit the amount of people you reach out to. If you're trying to get in touch with someone in the organization and haven't been able to get a response, don't start emailing everyone in it. Try to limit it to at most two people. People talk, and if they find out that the same person has been emailing multiple contacts, it is not a good impression if you're trying to be professional.

联系人数量不要太多。如果你想和公司里的某位取得联系但没收到回复，别把邮件发给每个员工。发给最重要的两个人就可以了。办公室是非多，如果他们发现收到同一个人的群发邮件，会对你的专业形象有不利影响。

If the email is not working, try other means such as interacting with her on social media or meeting in person. Remember, there is a fine line between being persistent⁹ and a pest, so do your best to toe that line.

如果邮件联系不到人，试试其他联系方式，比如社交网络或当面谈。记住，坚持和烦人只有一步之遥，所以管好自己别脚滑了。