Some specific tactics to consider based on personal experience:

- First, research the person on LinkedIn, Facebook etc and see if you have any legitimate shared contacts or interests. Do NOT under any circumstances stretch the truth but if, for example, you both went to the same school, both lived abroad in the same country, both love road biking, then arm yourself with that knowledge.
- I'm going to assume that in this case you don't have any shared connections so LinkedIn isn't an option. Now you need to research email and phone number. For C-level execs of public companies you can sometimes find this info in SEC filings.
- If you are targeting someone below the C-suite then the following tactic is VERY effective. Call the appropriate C-level exec. When you get stopped by the gate keeper explain who you need to talk to and have them refer you. An email from the exec asst to the CEO is just as effective as an email from the CEO herself!
- You must be willing to follow a "friendly bulldog" strategy. That means you call, email and send real mail (can be very effective b/c its now a rare tactic) many times with small time gaps in between. The more you ask someone to do something for you, the more they feel obligated to do it. This is a real psychological phenomenon that fund raisers exploit regularly.

I hope these ideas help. Happy to talk and share more...