[trotsky]

For whatever reason, most unsolicited leads from websites or email turn out to be garbage in that business. Meaning if you pursue all of them very close to 0% will turn into real work. Most emailers are dreaming, fishing for some free work, can't afford it or are trying to get bids for a job they already plan to hire their friend for.

Somehow you need to convince these people that you're not one of those folks, assuming you aren't. I'd make the note specific to the person you're emailing (I liked portfolio piece x and would like something like the operation of y which impressed me), state clearly that if you can come to an agreement you're ready to commit to work right away without getting competitive bids, provide sketches or something concrete that shows you didn't just dream up this idea an hour ago and will have forgotten about it tomorrow, state your approximate budget and note that the money is in the bank, and make it clear some how you're not emailing the whole planet.

Lots of these people will be happy to work with you - but if they state on the web they're looking for work they've probably been burned a number of times by people who demanded a lot of attention and yet never had the actual intention of hiring them (even if they thought they did at the time). Do make sure that's not you.

EDIT: I Just saw one of your follow ups where you said "I'm not sure if what I'm asking for is $1k or $10k" - that's your problem, you probably are one of these bad leads at least at this point. I'd consider offering a day rate of $500 to have someone help you flesh out your needs and set your expectations. If $500 is too much to move the process along you probably should reconsider what you're getting into.