What is Proper Etiquette for Conversing with Another Blogger?

An interesting thought came up last night as I yet again was contacting Tony Karrer for advice and "how to's". What is the proper way to ask a question of another blogger? Many times you might see an element they have added to their page and wonder, "Just how did they do that?". Other times you may know they are an expert in a certain field and want some advice on how to proceed with your own project.

I have thought it best that if the blogger offers their email address within their profile, or better yet directly on their blog that is the "international symbol" for FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME (with questions/comments of course). However, maybe it is better to use the comment fields that people set up at the end of their posts. I however, have not used this method when my question is of no relation to the post. I figured it would be cluttering up the bloggers post and more so taking away from the intent of the post.

A bit of the challenge though is that, my question may be of interest to many others. So how does anyone else answer it or read the answer to the question if it is only ever hidden behind the scenes in email.

Tony and I agree that neither of us mind getting emails, but also were not sure what others may think either about the whole subject. So, I've added a couple of polling questions to my blog. Hopefully you'll take a moment to answer. Perhaps we will agree as bloggers-united that if you see an email address as contact information that it is indeed the "international symbol" for "I WELCOME YOU TO CONTACT ME".