Photo by HIVAN ARVIZU @soyhivan on Unsplashed
在西方有一句話 「你的成功並不是因為你的知識，而是你認識的人造就你的成功」(It is about who you know and not what you know)。 別誤會，你擁有的”知識”是重要的。不過，我想大家都知道，在許多地方，除了知識以外，你的”人脈”對於成功的幫助上可能扮演更大的角色。
讓我們先想一想，為什麼需要建立商業人脈？假如你現在正在搜尋有關海外渡假或者是留學的訊息，你會去哪裡找資料？找朋友？討論網站？語言學校？ 我相信你應該不需要太費力就可以找到很多資料。可是當談到跟國外工作有關的訊息與資訊時，這個過程突然變得不容易。這是因為搜尋的領域變得更具體，需求也變得因人而異。另外，在企業中很多訊息都算是商業機密，不易獲取。這時如果有人可以幫忙指點一下方向，會增加成功率，建立人脈就是其中一個方式。不過，對很多沒出過國工作或在國外長期居住的人, 到底如何建立人脈?去哪裡建立呢?人又在亞洲，怎麼打入社交圈？
一般最常用的兩個管道是：
1. 利用當地的亞洲人脈
世界各地很多城市裡都有一個龐大的華人圈。相信很多人一定有直接或間接認識一些住在國外的親朋好友。透過當地的華人拓展人脈是很普遍的。不過這個方法畢竟有一些運氣的成分，如果你想要針對特定人士、公司或尋找特殊的訊息，你靠對方跟他的人脈，不一定能讓你直接找到你想找到的人。
2. 國際展覽還有研討會
我想這大概是最受亞洲公司歡迎的方法。很多公司利用大型國際展覽來宣傳自己的產品、建立人脈、還有銷售渠道。這些展覽會針對某一個產業來吸引不同階級的關鍵人員，讓推銷員有機會直接接觸並鎖定他們想要的公司與決策者。雖然展覽會是一個非常成功而且可靠的管道,但自從新冠肺炎爆發以來，現在這個管道完全不能使用。至少短期內出國參加這些展覽會或開會是絕對不可能的。
因應新冠肺炎, 歐洲的商業社交經歷了何種變化?
很多國家為了防疫關閉了他們的邊界、取消大型活動或延期到年底甚至2021年。雖然有一些國家已經慢慢地開放活動，數量依然有限。因此導致很多公司將活動切換為線上模式，最常見的數位虛擬活動類型包含招聘會、貿易展覽、公司會議、銷售會議和峰會。很多公司也發現他們的網路用戶增加了。根據軟體，’MICROSOFT TEAM’自從三月封鎖開始，每日活躍用戶高達四千四百萬，代表網路社交依然持續，這個對於住在國外的人來說是絕佳的消息，因為人脈建立、通訊交流、銷售活動都可以直接透過網路達成，減少出差需求，幫助公司省錢省時間。
擴展你的人脈管道
商業社交有很多層次。這篇文章並不是要討論[如何]去跟人家社交、還有社交手段，只是想藉此機會建議一些人脈建立管道。至於怎麼利用這些管道取於你的目的、時間彈性、興趣、還有地點。
以下我提供3種不同的方法。
A. 目標性的方法
目標性的方法適用於已經有想要接觸的特定對象、職位或公司的人，一般來講銷售或是業務發展領域的人會比較有興趣運用這個方法。其中最受歡迎的方法之一就是使用類似Linkedin的專業平台。
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
相信對很多人來說LinkedIn 應該不陌生。LinkedIn 有超過六億的使用者，其中有六千一百萬使用者是資深階級，裡面又有四千萬是決策者。資料顯示LinkedIn最大的使用者在美國跟英國，但在亞洲國家LinkedIn 的使用率並不普遍(印度跟中國大陸除外)[1]。
大部分的人利用Linkedin來創造個人的 [職業身分]，如果逛過這個網站，你應該可以看到很多大頭照是以西裝為主。在亞洲，很多人覺得Linkedin 就是一個網路簡歷表，用來找工作的，所以沒有必要上這個網站。其實Linkedin是一個強大的平台，可以利用職稱還有公司名稱去搜尋他想要找的人，還可以看到一個人的工作歷史, 包括內容、職位跟社交圈，還可以透過他分享過的文章跟部落格，去了解這個人的觀點和興趣愛好。你可以在跟這個人接觸之前就先了解他。
在歐洲，Linkedin在銷售策略中扮演著重要角色，每個公司都有規劃LinkedIn策略，畢竟它是Fortune 500強公司中使用最多的社交媒體平台。銷售或者是業務發展人員也常常利用Linkedin，因為它有能力可以直接可以跟決策者聯繫，使用傳統方法會花比較久的時間來到達一樣的結果。你如果真的想要打入歐洲市場，那你一定要好好考慮運用這個平台.
此外，雖然Linkedin是一個非常大的平台，擁有很多的使用者，不過每個國家都有自己愛用的專業平台。例如德語系國家 (奧地利，德國和瑞士），Xing是更受歡迎的，在2020年一月達到1,910萬用戶，所以不要小看Xing。
B. 專業性的方法
這是針對具有特殊技能，或者希望遇到擁有特殊技能的人士。這種方法是一種混合法，透過現場演講或網絡研討會與志趣相投的專業人員來交流學習。
Meetup (Meetup.com)
Meetup 是一個幫助志趣相投的人組織活動的平台。當我在2008年首次參加Meetup時, 這個平台比較像一個 「愛好」交流網站，例如約人去看電影、打籃球等等。而這10年以來這個網站一直在改變，增加了很多專業和商業有關的領域，並不只是一個普通的社交平台， 例如有關敏捷式開發(Agile)，人工智能， 專案管理，創業投資、等等。 這個平台在很多國家都有，例如法蘭克福，倫敦，巴黎可以找到各式各樣的活動。不過自從新冠肺炎的因素，很多的活動現在都改於線上進行。換句話說，現在你能參加的團體跟活動不僅限於單一個國家，選擇性也跟著增加。
每個專業團體通常會有一個主題和特別的演講人來吸引觀眾參加。演講前後會安排一些社交時間，讓大家互相介紹和認識。這些演講會一般都是免費的，你只要去參加就好(背後一般都有贊助商)，尤其現在可以透過網路來參加不同的活動，如果地區時間符合的話，建議去參加看看。
或許是Meetup起家背景的因素，我個人覺得這裡的活動比較’放鬆’ 一點。這個平台的使用公司以小型或初創公司為多，而且訂的聚會時間都是在下班後，感覺比較沒有那麼的正式。例如：你可以下班後去倫敦東區參加一個有關科技創新Meetup的討論會，你會遇到投資人還有工程師，大家可以邊聊未來科技與投資，然後邊吃達美樂比薩配啤酒。
C. 社交性的方法
如果你期望在一個比較輕鬆的氣氛裡，開心愉快認識各種不同領域的專業人士的話，那你會喜歡這個方法。雖然很多類似的管道現在都利用網路，不過我個人覺得這個管道如果能實際去當地國家的話會更好，畢竟地點和氛圍成為這種體驗的一部分。
Internations (www.internations.org)
Internations 是一個會員制團體，主要針對住在國外的外籍人士、幫助他們在當地認識朋友，這也意味著英語是他們所有活動中的主要語言。註冊是免費的，只有當您親自參加現場的社交活動時，才需要付費。他們在全球420個城市都有團體，並在歐洲許多地方（包括一些較小的城鎮）會舉行定期活動。如果你喜歡體驗高級的酒吧，同時認識一些國際的專業人士，那建議你下次出差的時候務必去看看。
不過，現在有很多國家選擇網路的活動，方便任何想認識住在當地民眾的人。每一個國家的活動都不一樣，所以你要先確認當地的情況。
最後感想
其實，有很多種管道可以去參與社交和建立人脈，隨著科技的進步，甚至不離開客廳就可以達成。我上面只是介紹了三個歐洲比較受歡迎的管道，至於你要怎麼去運用這些管道取決於你的目的和地點。我希望這篇文章可以幫助你激發更多的想法，幫助你擴展你們的人脈。我也期待在不久的將來，與你們在其中一個平台上見面。
English Version
Need to expand your overseas contacts from home? Channels to help expand your business network in Europe
“It is about who you know and not what you know”.
Well, don’t get me wrong, ‘what you know’ is undeniably important but, for many cultures, ‘who you know’may play an even more important role towards success, particularly when it comes to business.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and think about why we need to build our business network? Now imagine, if you were looking for information about an overseas holiday or studyingaboard, where would you seek for information? From Friends? Online Platforms like Tripadvisor? Language Schools? Bottom-line, I am sure you won’t be struggling to find the information required.
However, when it comes to looking for professional/work related information, especially in the overseas market, the research suddenly doesn't feel as straight forward. This is because the area of information search becomes more specific and unique to the individual needs. Moreover, in business, most information is deemed to be confidential, therefore getting access to it isn’t very easy. Having people to seek help becomes useful and building a network is one way to help you achieve that. However, you may ask,with the physical barriers that come with being in Asia, with so many conditions working against you, how and where do you go to grow your overseas network?
Traditionally there are 2 popular channels:
Asian Expat Channel:
There is a large Asian expat community in many of the major cities around the world. There is no doubt that you will probably know someone (directly or indirectly) living in the country of your interest. Using this channel to explore opportunities is a good starting point as they will be able to provide you some local information. However, if you were looking to target a particular person, company or you need specific information, then you are at the mercy of your contact and their network, which may not have a direct link to someone in your area of interest.
International Industry expos and conferences
This is probably the most popular method for most Asian companies. These events provide an ideal platform to help market a company, establish a channeland network with the relevant people. These events would target particular industries and attract different levels of key stakeholders, giving businesses the opportunity to meet and access potential decision makers directly. Although these expos and conferences have proven to be very successful, since Covid-19, this channel has nose-dived, at least in the short term and other channels have to be considered.
How has the networking environment changed?
It is important to understand what is happening in Europe due to Covid-19. Social distancing, capacity rules and border closure between countries due to government regulations have caused many closures and cancellation of events and expos until later in the year (2021 for many). Although some physical events have started to run again, numbers are still limited.
To counter this, many organisations have now switched their activities online. The most common type of digitally-simulated events includes job fairs, trade shows, company conferences, sales-meetings, and summits. Many companies saw the growth of their audiences, Microsoft proclaimed that Teams surpassed 44 million daily active users since March 2020. This means, virtual networking is here to stay. This is actually excellent news for people living overseas as all the networking and sales activities can now be achieved directly online, in the comfort of their own country, omitting the need to travel, thus saving time and money.
Think outside your current network
Business networking has many layers depending on your purpose. This article is not to discuss ‘how’ you should network or your ‘networking ability’. Instead, with the advancement of technology, I want to use suggest some other channels for consideration. How you use chose these channels would depend on your purpose, interest, location, time availability. I have suggested 3 different approaches below.
A. Targeted Approach
Targeted approach is for people who may have a specific person, job role or company that they would like to reach.Typically, BDM, Sales people would have more interests in utilizing this approach. One of the most popular way to target is using a Professional Platforms such as Linkedin.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
For many people, LinkedIn is not unheard of. There are 660+ million users on Linkedin where 61 million users are senior level influencer with 40million decision makers, with USA and UK[1] leading the usage. However, the uptake in Asian countries (apart from India and China) is still behind the West. For many users, Linkedin is used to show their ‘professional personality’. If you have been on it, you probably have seen that even the profile photos are in business suits. In Asia, many people generally see Linkedin as a virtual CV tool but it isn’t as simple as that. Linkedin is a powerful platform that allows people to search for people in job titles and companies. The system displays various information from the user’s professional history including their current/past jobs responsibilities, titles, their network, and you will be able to follow people of interest to understand their behaviours and opinions throughshared articles and blogs. You can learn a great deal about your audience before engaging with them.
It is the most used social media platform amongst Fortune 500 companies and plays an important part in their social selling strategy. For many sales and BDMs in Europe, Linkedin is the ‘go to’ place to find potential contacts and the ability to reach out directly to decision-makers which might otherwise be very difficult to engage through conventional methods. If you are serious to get into the European business, it is time to look into this platform.
To add, individual countries may have their preferred professional platform. E.g In German speaking countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland), Xing (www.xing.com) is a more popular version reaching DACH 19.1 Million users in Jan. 2020.
B. Expertise Approach
This is for people who have a particular skillset, or looking to meet people with a particular skillset or interest. This approach is a mixed one, including some learning through live presentations, webinars and networking with like-minded professionals.
Meetup (www.meetup.com)
It is an online platform used to organise events for people with similar interests. When I first joined Meetup in 2008, it was more like a ‘hobby’ site. e.g going ice-skating, playing basketball, etc. However, over the last +10 years, the activities on Meetup have expanded and gained more groups in the professional and commercial areas. You can now find professional groups such as Agile, AI technology, Project Management, Startup Pitch, etc.
The Meetup platform is international and you can search for activities everywhere in the world eg. Frankfurt, London, Paris. Today, with the help of Covid-19, many of the activities have migrated virtually, therefore more online events and groups have popped up, thus group options have also increased. It is now possible to join any group around the world as long as the time zone suits your schedule. Each professional session typically has a theme, a presentation to attract people to attend, then followed by a networking session after each talk. Most of these events are free to join (normally they are sponsored), so give it a go.
Perhaps due to Meetup’s background, I personally find that the sessions here feels more ‘casual’. Most groups tend to be organised by smaller/mid-sized companies and events are usually scheduled in the evening, afterwork hours. People at these events tends to look more ‘relaxed’ including their attire. For example, you can attend a Technology Startup Meetup in East London, where you get to meet and chat withinvestors and technology enthusiasts while eating Dominos Pizza and drinking beer.
C. Social Approach
This is great for people looking for a relaxed atmosphere and is happy to meet a variety of people from different backgrounds. Although virtual meetings are now becoming more popular, giving you easier access, I personally find that this approach works better if someone can experience it physically, as the location and atmosphere becomes part of that package.
Internations (www.internations.org)
This is one to try if anyone is looking to blend a sophisticated night out in an upper market local bar while mingling with various expats from around the world. Internations is a membership-based group mainly for expats living abroad.The main purpose of the group is to help expats meet friends locally, this also means English is the main language in all their events, regardless of the country you are in. It is free to sign up and you only pay when you physically attend a networking event. They have groups in 420 cities around the world and held regular events in many locations Europe, including some smaller towns as well.
In some countries, Internations have also opted for online ‘networking’ sessions, perfect for anyone wanting to meet local people. In some other countries where Covid-19 is more under control, part of the events are also starting to move back into face-to-face meetings. You will need to check country by country.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to grow your network and many channels available depending on your specific needs. With the advancement of technology, it is possible to expand our network without even leaving your living room. In the above, I have proposed 3 popular methods to consider. However, how you want to network or which channel you choose comes back to what is your purpose, time, availability and location of interest. I hope this might inspire you to think of other channels and ideas to expand your network. I also look forward to meeting some of you on one of these platformsin the near future :)
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/272783/linkedins-membership-worldwide-by-country/
