Do you want to apply for an internship or a PhD/Postdoc position? I am happy about any application, but unfortunately I receive many non-professional applications, hence please follow these instructions if you want to be considered seriously.

First, unless you answer to a specific request for applications (such as mailing list announcements), don't send me your CV! I am not at all interested in which courses you visited, whether you belong to the only 0.00000005% of the accepted applicants for some program, or whether you have experience with Oracle databases. I may request your CV later, when things get more seriously, but please don't send it in your first email to me.

Second, don't send me a generic mail. Don't write "Dear Sir" or even "Dir Sir/Madam". Don't write "I am inspired by your research" when you haven't even taken a look at my research. If you want me to invest time considering your application, then make it obvious that you have also invested time in writing to me.

Third, tell me why you are specifically interested in my research area. Tell me about papers you have read - be it my own papers or other people's papers. Tell me what you liked/disliked about these papers. Tell me about your ideas: How do you want to improve on the state of the art?

If I would want to attract the attention of a professor, this is what I would do: Get an overview of his or her research field. Skim through a few of his/her papers. Read at least one of them thoroughly. Relate the research work to things you know. For instance, have you ever stumbled upon similar problems? Or do you know related works? Maybe you even have ideas of your own in the problem domain? ALl this is potentially helpful. Now set up an email to the professor. Mention in your first sentence that you have read paper titled Y. Say what it is about in your own words (don't quote or reformulate something from the paper). Make it clear that you understood the paper, and that you invested a lot of time in preparing this email. Impress the professor with your clever thoughts on the topic. At the end of the e-mail you can mention that you are looking for a position.

Following my advice means that a single application will take a day or multiple days of work. But I guarantee you that you will be more successful with this strategy than with any form of bulk mail.