Winning the Sale Before It Starts

The way B2B customers buy has fundamentally changed. The days of controlling the sales process from the first contact are well and truly over. Today, the most critical phase of the buying journey happens long before you even know a prospect exists.

Consider the data:

• B2B buyers complete as much as 70-90% of their research online before ever reaching out to a salesperson. They are actively defining their problems, exploring solutions, and creating a shortlist of potential partners in silence.
• The average B2B buyer consumes 13 pieces of content before making a decision. This includes articles, whitepapers, case studies, and webinars.

What does this mean for you? It means that while you're waiting for the phone to ring, your prospects are already forming strong opinions and biases. They are being influenced, educated, and guided—either by you or by your competitors.

This is where thought leadership becomes your most powerful sales and marketing tool.

Effective thought leadership isn't about creating generic blog posts. It's a strategic program designed to intercept your ideal customers during their private research phase. It allows you to:

1. Establish Unshakeable Credibility: When a prospect discovers your insightful articles, data-driven reports, or expert webinars, you are no longer just another vendor. You become a trusted, authoritative guide who understands their world and their challenges on a deep level. You win their trust before the first conversation.
2. Set the Buying Agenda: This is the ultimate competitive advantage. Through your content, you can frame the problem in a way that makes your unique solution the most logical and compelling answer. You can introduce evaluation criteria that your competitors can't meet. In essence, you teach your prospects how to buy a solution that looks exactly like what you sell.

That's why we've created this B2B Thought Leadership course, designed to give you the actionable, no-fluff playbook to build and execute a B2B thought leadership program that does exactly that. We move beyond theory to focus entirely on the practical steps required to turn your expertise into a predictable engine for revenue and rock-solid client relationships.

The B2B Thought Leadership Program

A strong thought leadership program can yield high returns and strategic advantages. Studies show thought leadership content delivers significant ROI – IBM research found it generates 156% ROI, about 16× higher than traditional marketing campaigns.

Moreover, 75% of decision-makers say that quality thought leadership prompted them to explore a new provider’s services. This means sharing your expertise can attract more qualified leads, shorten sales cycles, and open doors to new business that wouldn’t have emerged via standard ads.

High-quality thought leadership also builds authority: for example, 73% of B2B buyers say they trust thought leadership more than typical marketing materials, and 86% are more likely to invite the thought leader’s company to bid on projects (RFPs) – a huge opportunity to win deals you might otherwise miss.

Thought Leadership is not without its challenges, perhaps the most impactful of which is the time it can take to see results: thought leadership is a long-term play, and not always instant. You won’t see results overnight, and it can be hard to measure early on. This means commitment is a challenge – you must consistently produce valuable content even when immediate sales don’t follow. Many leaders struggle with the patience and effort required, since thought leadership “may not immediately translate to earnings,” but over time it builds broader awareness and credibility for your business. Another challenge is quality: to truly gain trust, your content must be insightful and well-crafted, not just self-promotional.

So with those considerations in mind, let's explore the elements for this Thought Leadership program:

Module 1: Foundation for a Revenue-Generating Program

Lesson 1: The Business Case for Your Thought Leadership

This lesson frames thought leadership as a direct sales and marketing tool for B2B organizations. We'll define specific business goals (e.g., new enterprise clients, market share growth, revenue targets) and map out how a thought leadership program will directly help achieve them.

• Action Steps:
  • Define your 6-month and 12-month revenue and client acquisition goals.
  • Identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) and key buying personas.
  • Outline how your expertise and solutions solve their most expensive problems.
• AI Tool: "ICP & Pain Point Analysis" - An interactive AI tool that helps you consider ten demographic personas who could be prospective buyers and lists the pain points, challenges and opportunities for each persona.

Lesson 2: Pinpointing Your Profitable Niche

Forget broad expertise. This lesson is about identifying a specific, profitable market niche where businesses are actively looking for and willing to pay for high-value solutions. We will validate the commercial viability of your chosen niche.

• Action Steps:
  • Analyze competitor offerings, market positioning, and pricing.
  • Identify underserved market needs or common industry frustrations.
  • Craft a powerful value proposition: "We help [specific industry/company type] achieve [tangible business outcome]."
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Profitable Niche Analyzer" - This tool analyzes market demand, keyword search volume, and competitor density for your chosen niche to provide a "Commercial Viability Score," helping you choose a niche with proven demand.

Module 2: The Client-Attraction Content Engine

Lesson 3: Developing Your Core Content Pillars

This lesson guides you in establishing 3-5 core content "pillars" that your organization will own. All content you create will be built on these pillars, consistently demonstrating your expertise and attracting your ideal customers.

• Action Steps:
  • Brainstorm 3-5 topics that directly address your ideal customer's biggest challenges.
  • Outline key sub-topics, data points, and unique insights for each pillar.
  • Ensure each pillar naturally leads to a product or service you offer.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Content Pillar Builder" - Helps you develop your core content pillars based on your profitable niche. It then generates a "Content Web" of related sub-topics to ensure you never run out of ideas.

Lesson 4: Creating Your "Client Magnet" Content Plan

This lesson is about building a practical, 90-day content calendar designed to systematically attract and convert leads. We'll focus on the right mix of content to build awareness, nurture relationships, and drive sales inquiries.

• Action Steps:
  • Map content formats (e.g., short video, in-depth article, case study) to different stages of the B2B buyer's journey.
  • Schedule specific content pieces in a calendar with deadlines.
  • Plan your calls-to-action for each piece of content.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Client Magnet Calendar" - Generates a 90-day content plan, populating a calendar with specific content ideas, formats, and suggested calls-to-action designed to move prospects through your sales funnel.

Lesson 5: Writing Content That Sells (Without Being Salesy)

Learn to craft content that builds trust and demonstrates so much value that inquiring about your solutions becomes the logical next step for the reader. This is about persuasion, not pushy sales tactics.

• Action Steps:
  • Structure every piece of content to lead to a clear, compelling call-to-action.
  • Practice writing headlines that speak directly to your customer's pain points.
  • Learn to weave in case studies, data, and testimonials to build credibility.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Persuasive Content Coach" - Analyzes your draft content and provides a score for its clarity, persuasiveness, and headline strength. It offers specific suggestions to make your writing more compelling for potential clients.

Module 3: Activation, Conversion, and Scaling

Lesson 6: Mastering Your Primary Client Acquisition Channel

Instead of trying to be everywhere, we'll identify and focus on dominating the single most effective platform for reaching your ideal B2B customers (e.g., LinkedIn, industry publications, targeted email newsletters).

• Action Steps:
  • Research and confirm where your ideal customers are most active and engaged.
  • Develop a platform-specific daily and weekly routine for posting and engaging.
  • Optimize your personal and company profiles on that platform to be client-attraction tools.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Client Channel Finder" - Analyzes your ideal customer profile and business type to recommend the single best platform to focus on, providing a checklist for profile optimization and a sample weekly engagement plan.

Lesson 7: From Conversation to Customer: The Engagement Funnel

This lesson provides a step-by-step process for turning online interactions (comments, DMs, likes) into qualified sales conversations and, ultimately, paying customers.

• Action Steps:
  • Use proven scripts to move a conversation from a public comment to a private message.
  • Learn to qualify prospects through natural, non-salesy conversation.
  • Know exactly when and how to offer a "discovery call" or "demo."
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Conversation Starter" - Scans engagement on your posts and identifies high-potential prospects. It then suggests personalized, non-salesy opening lines to help you initiate a private conversation.

Lesson 8: Designing and Selling Your High-Value B2B Solution

This lesson focuses on packaging your expertise into a premium, high-value B2B solution or service that your thought leadership is designed to sell.

• Action Steps:
  • Clearly define the tangible outcomes, ROI, and deliverables of your signature offering.
  • Price your offer based on the value of the results you provide, not your time.
  • Create a one-page summary of your solution that you can share with prospects.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "B2B Solution Crafter" - A step-by-step wizard that guides you through defining the modules, deliverables, support, and pricing for your premium offer, then generates a professionally formatted offer summary.

Lesson 9: The Revenue-Focused Metrics Dashboard

Forget vanity metrics. This lesson teaches you to track the only numbers that matter for business growth: Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs), sales calls, conversion rates, and revenue.

• Action Steps:
  • Set up a simple spreadsheet or tool to track your key business metrics weekly.
  • Identify your lead-to-customer conversion rate to understand your pipeline's health.
  • Use this data to make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Revenue Dashboard" - A simple, pre-built dashboard template where you can input your weekly metrics (e.g., demos booked, new contracts signed) to visualize your business growth and pipeline effectiveness.

Lesson 10: Scaling Your Program with Systems

The final lesson focuses on making your thought leadership program efficient and scalable. We'll create systems and identify automation opportunities so the program can run effectively without consuming all of your team's time.

• Action Steps:
  • Document your content creation and promotion process into a simple checklist.
  • Identify time-consuming tasks that can be batched, automated, or delegated.
  • Choose simple tools to schedule content and manage your workflow.
• AI Tool Recommendation: "Automation Advisor" - Analyzes your described workflow and suggests specific, low-cost tools and automation recipes (e.g., using social media schedulers, email templates) to streamline your program and save you hours each week.

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TIMING

The "B2B Thought Leadership Program" begins on Monday 01 September, 2025.

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FORMAT

Ten weekly lessons delivered online, accessible 24/7 to fit your schedule. Each lesson includes practical "Action Steps" for immediate implementation.

INVESTMENT

This ten-part online training course is available for $897+GST. However we offer an Early Bird Discount of $100 -- pay just $797+GST for bookings received by Monday 25 August, 2025.

Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment, which can be by bank deposit or credit card. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.

To reserve your place in this course, please enrol by clicking here: 

If you would prefer to pay by bank deposit, or require an invoice, please send an email to bookings@netmarketingcourses.co.nz with your requirements.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking. Then on the first day of the course we’ll follow up with details of your Login and Password details, as well as Course Notes for the first lesson. Subsequent lesson information will be sent out weekly.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, please email us at bookings@netmarketingcourses.co.nz

FAQ

How does the course work?

• Every lesson includes Action Steps so that you can start implementing what you’ve just learned, along with dedicated AI tools designed to help you with the requirements of each lesson.

Is the course live?

• No, everything is online, conducted on a web-based e-learning software platform. Once a lesson is released, you can access it whenever you wish, anytime 24/7, in accordance with your own timetable). You proceed at your own pace, accessing materials online.

What's the course format?

• This particular online training course provides content in a variety of multimedia forms, including text, images, videos, slideshows, presentations and PDF files. No special software is required to participate, you access it through a web browser (eg Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).

How often are lessons released?

• Course lessons will be provided weekly, on Wednesdays, over ten weeks. We release content on a weekly schedule because we review (and where necessary update) the contents of each lesson just before release, to ensure that the material is as up-to-date as possible — the marketing environment is constantly changing, so we aim to ensure that the lessons reflect the latest developments.

How long will each lesson take?

• We typically recommend you allow 1-2 hours per lesson.

What happens if I need help?

•  Interaction with the course tutor is enabled via email.

Your instructor for this course is Michael Carney, one of New Zealand’s most experienced digital marketing practitioners and educators. As the founder and director of Netmarketing Courses, Michael has dedicated the last fifteen years to researching, creating, and delivering practical, relevant online training designed specifically for the Aotearoa market. His mission is to empower Kiwi organisations and marketers with the skills they need to thrive in a competitive digital landscape. To date, he has trained over 3,000 students through partnerships with leading industry bodies including the NZ Marketing Association, NZ Retailers Association, Tourism Industry Association NZ, and Hospitality NZ.

Course participants range from absolute beginners just starting to come to grips with digital marketing through to senior marketing professionals looking for Continuing Professional Development and seeking to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in the ever-evolving digital environment. Specific courses are offered for organisations of all sizes, from solopreneurs and small businesses through to local and central government bodies and large corporate businesses.

Michael has practical, hands-on experience with all aspects of digital marketing, from website creation to social media advertising, from strategic guidance and trend analysis to thought leadership. He has been online since 1987 and involved with digital marketing in all its aspects since the mid-1990s. He was an early adopter of Generative AI when ChatGPT launched in late 2022, and now has extensive experience with using AI for research, brainstorming, content creation, design, video creation and editing and what's become known as "vibe coding", using AI to develop web applications.

Michael’s expertise is built on a career spanning more than four decades, during which he has developed marketing and advertising strategies for many of New Zealand's most iconic brands. His extensive client list includes The Warehouse, ANZ Bank, Lion Breweries, Griffins Foods, Sony New Zealand, Honda New Zealand, and Heinz Wattie. This deep, hands-on experience at the highest levels of the industry ensures that every course is grounded in real-world application, not just academic theory. He has held senior strategic roles in major advertising agencies, including National Media Director at HKM Advertising and Strategic Planning Director for The Media Counsel. He currently also is Digital and Strategic Director of the creative agency Good Gravy. 

Beyond his client work, Michael is a respected thought leader, published author, and industry contributor. He wrote the bestselling book "Trade Me Success Secrets," which sold out its first printing in just six weeks, and has ghost-written several other business books on topics like digital transformation. For years, he chaired the Network of Digital Marketers for the NZ Marketing Association and he has been a regular magazine columnist for Marketing Magazine and other titles. This unique combination of in-the-trenches experience, proven teaching ability, and strategic insight makes him the ideal guide to help you master digital marketing.

Feedback from previous digital marketing training course and workshop participants:

• It is great that we have managed to get an external perspective on marketing in the digital space – your expertise in this area is greatly appreciated. – Hazel T.
• I really enjoyed the [Digital Marketing Workshop] today and got a lot out of it  – Nikki H.
• Thanks for a great [Digital Marketing] session yesterday, really enjoyed it and learnt lots – Izi W
• “this was the best professional development course I have done in many years” – Mark R, senior Agency Exec responsible for social media
• “thought the information within was outstanding” – Ed P, General Manager
• “What I loved was that I started with a fairly rudimentary understanding of social media but have learned a lot – including where to find more information as I need it.” – Fiona W, Marketing Manager
• “I found it relevant, informative, topical, insightful and a bloody good read. It’s never evangelical, too techy, patronising, assumes that you know too much or too little about digital and has a warm sense of humour in the communication throughout which helped faciliate the learning process for me.” — Adrienne B, new media senior executive
• “Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this course! It’s been extremely enlightening” — Shayne P, design agency director
• “Rapt with what I have seen of the course” — Julia R, fashion editor
• “I’m really enjoying the course – learning a lot – and I know the two friends I persuaded to join us are also loving it.” — Lavinia C, designer
• “Am thoroughly enjoying the content!” – Kara B, magazine co-ordinator
• “I was already engaging with social media and have been doing so for about 6 years or so. But, did I know how to use social media in a marketing and business sense? No, I simply did not. This course was a great way to show me how to do that.” — Sheryl K, online marketer