There are good clients out there!

That’s the message from Liz Heflin, a ghostwriter who is already almost “booked out” for 2026.

But what exactly does that mean – booked out?

In Episode 541 of the Marketing Mentor Podcast, Liz shares what she means, as well as her daily marketing habit, which is super simple.

It's essentially 2 things, that’s it.

Underneath it all is a commitment to do something every day that moves her business forward. 

That doesn’t sound complicated, right? You could do that too, right? I think so.

So listen here (and below) and learn.

Even if you struggle with imposter syndrome, just be like Liz and do something every day to move your business forward.

Because marketing works, but only when you do it! 

Listen to Liz's first appearance on the Marketing Mentor Podcast, Episode 525, "Pitching isn't that salesy": https://bit.ly/MMPodcast525

And if you want my help, make sure you’re signed up for my Quick Tips because you won’t want to miss what’s coming for 2026 in the Simplest Marketing Plan (SMP).

In fact, I’m super excited about the improvements we’re making to the SMP+ program – because this is the year you stop starting over! Don't you want to go from "stop and go" to "steady flow?"

If that resonates with you, sign up for my Quick Tips and you’ll hear all about it very soon.

And we’d love it if you write a review, subscribe here and sign up for Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.

Transcript of Episode 541

ilise: Hello, Liz, welcome back to the podcast.

Liz Heflin: Hello! Thank you for inviting me! I feel so honored to be invited back!

ilise: Absolutely. Well, I want you to introduce yourself first, and then we'll talk about why I invited you back.

Liz Heflin: Yeah, absolutely. So, I am Liz Heflin. I'm a freelance writer. And I basically have two arms of my business. So, I am a non-fiction full-book ghostwriter. I also have an agency around that ghostwriting business. And then I have this whole second arm where I create sources, free and paid resources for other freelance writers. So I run a community, I do coaching, I sell resources, all of those kinds of things to help people have more success in a landscape that can be really tricky.

ilise: It is tricky, and… One of the reasons I invited you back, I mean, you shared some really helpful mindset, especially perspectives, that I think everyone needs, and as I like to say, the guests I invite are people who practice what I preach, and some of those are people who work with me directly, and others are just people I've come across. And who I can see are doing marketing and it's working, and just to refresh people's memory, because we will link to the first episode we did, which was episode 525, so not too long ago, but you had pitched to me the ghostwriting agency, basically.

Liz Heflin: Right?

ilise: And, I was impressed by your pitch, and so I said, well, I don't really… have a need for that, but won't you be a guest on my podcast? And so that's why we did the first one, and recently we reconnected, and I saw, actually, I think just this past week, you posted on LinkedIn that you're booked out for 2026, and so I thought, alright, let's get her back, and see what she's doing, and, you know, what other people can do to follow in these footsteps, because, well, maybe we should talk first about how tricky the market is right now, for everyone, really. Freelancers, writers, designers, marketers, it's really for everyone. Some people are doing really well, some people are doing not well at all. So I guess I'm curious, what do you see out there first?

Liz Heflin: Yeah, I think it's foolhardy to say that the industry, the landscape, is not different than it's ever been, because it absolutely is. I've been doing this for something like 20 years. And it is the hardest landscape that I've ever navigated. But by the same token, I'm also having the best year I've ever had as a freelancer, and… I mean that financially, but I also mean it in the sense of the kinds of projects that are coming my way, or things that feel very, very aligned with what I want to be doing. So I'm booked out, not with with work that I don't care to do, but with work that I care very deeply about. So I'm personally kind of navigating both sides of this coin right now, that I feel like, yes, absolutely, it is harder to get yeses, it is harder to get answers to your proposals. It is harder to get your foot in the door, but also… the work is very much still there, so I think we kind of often get one side of that story. I think we get the doom and gloom side of it, but if people can take anything from this, I hope it's just that Yes, it's harder. Yes, you have to knock on more doors. But there are still really amazing clients on the other side of those doors. It's just a little trickier to find which doors those are.

ilise: Yeah, I know a lot of people who are doing really well feel almost ashamed of it, or kind of guilty, and I think that was part of your post also, right? I'm not bragging, but… Yes! I just want everyone to know there are good clients out there, and, you know, don't stop looking.

Liz Heflin: Yes, very, very much true. I think there's just… when you hear so many people who are hurting, and they want to be doing this thing they loved, and maybe they've been doing it successfully for many years past, and now all of a sudden, it's gotten a lot more difficult. You don't want to be tone deaf for that.

ilise: Right.

Liz Heflin: And… I don't think the answer is to stop sharing the wins, which is part of why I made that post, that public post. Because I think it's important to hear the wins as well, because if all you hear is the other side, it's really, really easy, especially when things aren't going well, to just believe that that is the full story and stop. So… You don't want it to feel like you're rubbing your nose… or rubbing somebody's nose in it, or you don't want it to feel like it's gloating, but I think it is also really important to shout from the rooftops, hey. Good things are still lining up and happening.

ilise: So, let's talk then a little bit more specifically about the fact that you're booked out for '26. Maybe you can… start by telling us what exactly that means. I mean, as a ghostwriter, what is your capacity? How do you even know what your capacity is?

Liz Heflin: Sure, yeah. So, I'm not… I'm not quite booked out. I… so I can typically… I know about myself that I can typically take about 3 books a year, if all of the stages, the interview stage, the writing phase, the editing phase, are all sort of staggered. If it all lines up like that, it can usually take about 3 a year. So I have… one that's carrying over from 2025, we'll be finishing up in February. I just booked a new one, which should take me through probably 8 to 10 months of the year, so I'm really looking to book one more. I have… three really viable proposals out in the world right now, so I'm waiting to hear if one of those comes through as a yes, and truly, truly books me out for… for the… for all of 2026. But… You know, booked out is… go ahead.

ilise: Yeah, no, I was gonna say, booked out probably what you were about to say, which is that most people, depending on what your service is, and how much it costs, and how long the sales cycle is, which I'm curious about in your situation, but you don't need hundreds of clients, right? You obviously only need 3 really good ones, and… That, I think, makes it more manageable even to think about and do the marketing for.

Liz Heflin: Absolutely. And I think that it's one of the things that I talk to a lot of people about, like, coaching and things, is you… you don't… need to get… all of these yeses. You need four, three quality yeses. And that's true whether you're booking out really big projects, like ghostwriting projects, you know, full books. Or it could just be, you know, really meaty retainers. You know, it's… it's so easy to get overwhelmed and to think, you know, I have to book myself out for the year, I have to fill all these hours. But re-shifting the lens and reframing it as you just really need a handful of great clients, and if you can you know, navigate the contract and created in such a way that those are recurring clients for you, then everything, I think, becomes a little bit easier to manage and a little bit easier to handle.

ilise: Yeah. And maybe you can talk a little bit about the sales cycle, how it happens, how long it takes, maybe even of the three proposals that you're waiting for a decision on, how did those come about? Is there one you hope more than the others will come through.

Liz Heflin: Yes? There's one in particular that I'm really crossing my fingers on. So for… so for… this is obviously going to be pretty specific to… to me and to ghostwriting, but, I have one that is… came through from a ghostwriting agency. I'm on their bench, so they have a team of writers, a group of writers. when projects come in, they just make an open call, you know, and the call goes out to how many ever people are on the bench? Hundreds, thousands. And of those people, you basically cold apply, and then there's a… there's a person who selects which… which applications go through to the next stage, where you're actually interviewing with the client. And so, in that sort of a situation, it's amazing, because the agency did all of the legwork for landing the prospect landing the job, it's just your job to win it. And you, of course, have to be happy with the rate you're making after… after their fees, because they take their cut, as they should. So that's… that's sort of one that I have on the table. That would be a very sizable contract, and a really… a very cool story. I'm obviously at liberty to share the details of that story, but, very meaningful, would help a lot of people. I would be very honored to be a part of that project. So, really crossing my fingers for that one. I have another one, which is, a very kind of… straight business book. Somebody is the CEO of a financial services company, they're looking to build a book, to create a book that builds their authority, maybe get a bit on the speaking circuit, leverage that book into, into other opportunities. And that was just an open call that they had made on LinkedIn. I reached out, we were in contact for a little bit, and this… I should preface by saying this was more than a year ago. That they made the initial call on LinkedIn. And I had been in contact with the person who was navigating the project, and I gave her my initial quote, and she said, oh, no, that's too much, and I said, no problem. And then… and then I had followed up with it a few, you know, 6 months later or something, and she said, oh my gosh, you know, we should jump on a call, and we… got on a call, and their sort of priorities had shifted, and they talked to more writers, and they kind of figured out what the pricing point should be, and so, you know, here we are, a little over a year after the initial point of contact, and it's still on the table. So, there's just…

ilise: I'll just ask you a few questions about that one.

Liz Heflin: Yeah.

ilise: So, when you say they, you know… well, first of all, the open call, is that… a LinkedIn job posting, or is that someone going into their feed and asking a question, or saying, we have this need, and anyone who sees it can respond?

Liz Heflin: In that case, it was just a post, just in your feed. Just saw it in the feed, yeah.

ilise: And do you look at the job postings on LinkedIn?

Liz Heflin: You know, I actually really don't. Not to disparage that as a tactic in any way, shape, or form, it's just not something that I do. It's much more likely for me that I'll be looking on my feed, I'll see an opportunity, and either I'm connected to that person, so I can either directly DM them, which is always great, or, you know, maybe I have a second-level connection, so there would be…

ilise: A way for me to… an easier path for me to be connected with them.

Liz Heflin: But I don't often just fully… hold scroll through the job openings. I try and come at it from at least some kind of a relationship level.

ilise: Yeah, I agree with that. I would disparage the job postings, actually, because to me, I've never actually heard of someone getting a job or a project through those job postings. They feel more like cattle calls than anything else, but… Sure. So, it's interesting, and I'm glad to hear that that was not that, that that had.

Liz Heflin: It was not that.

ilise: Okay, good. And then, so you submit your proposal with pricing, and they say, oh no, that's too much, and you say, no problem. Does no problem mean, okay, I'll lower the price, or I'll adjust the scope, or both, or what? Do you have a call with those people?

Liz Heflin: Good, really good question, yeah. So, I gave them, essentially… I didn't even get to the full proposal stage yet, because we hadn't met, I hadn't had. Got a chance. to actually talk details with them, so I gave them my minimum rate for a… for a full-length book, and they told me what theirs was, what their… the number that they were looking to pay, and we were quite far off. So, at that point, when I said no problem, what I meant was, I'm happy to open it up to the writers in… I mentioned briefly, I have this sort of agency model around my ghostwriting, so if I'm ever booked out, or if a project isn't right for me for any number of reasons, budget, or it's just out of my wheelhouse, I have a group of amazing writers who I can pull from and say, like, hey, this person would be really great for this, and I can put them forward. And then, logistically, we will run that through my agency, so I would be taking a cut of that contract for bringing the work to the… to the writer.

ilise: Right, but the fee would be lower anyway, because you're not doing it. Oops.

Liz Heflin: Correct.

ilise: But then… so, you weren't discouraged by that, by the fact that you were so far off, and you did follow up, I think you said, 6 months later, so talk about that. Like, why would you follow up if you… it didn't really seem… I mean, it seemed maybe it could be good for someone on your bench, but just the thinking behind the follow-up.

Liz Heflin: Yeah, and it's a great question. Again, I… I followed up, because I was hoping that I could get, a really good job for somebody on my bench. That was 100% the intent. The number that they threw out was very reasonable, it just didn't match with what my minimum was. But for somebody who maybe hasn't been doing it as long. It was… it wasn't pittance, you know, it was a reasonable number. So I was like, I would love, especially in this market where it's tough, I would love to give somebody a project of this scope and size. They would be thrilled. So, I followed up just hoping to… to navigate some work for somebody in… in my network. And then when the conversation picked back up, at some point, we just… when we started talking numbers, it shifted from, oh yeah, that's what we were thinking last year, but now we've talked to more people, I think the company was in a different position, and all of a sudden, I was kind of back in the running unexpectedly.

ilise: Yeah. So just the fact that that can happen, I think, is very… edifying, right, for people. a lot of people would not follow up, especially if they don't have an agency or a network of people to pass it along to, and just assume they're out of the running, but I always like to say, you never know, and you should always follow up, and I assume you agree with me about that, no matter what.

Liz Heflin: Very much.

ilise: It's fascinating that they had come to their senses, it sounds like, actually, or something had shifted, or they talked to enough people and realized, like, our number isn't high enough.

Liz Heflin: Yeah. Yeah, and I think that it's, you know, a matter of circumstance, too, just things sometimes that are totally out of your control. It was… a… not a new company, but they had gone through a massive period of growth in that interim between when I first talked to them and when I second talked to them. So, I think that they were just financially in a better spot to support a project like that, in a way that they weren't… the first time we talked.

ilise: Yeah, things take the time they take, for sure.

Liz Heflin: Yeah.

ilise: Okay, good. So, you're waiting to hear on that one, and what do you do during this waiting period? Do you continue following up? Do you just bide your time? Is there a point at which you decide, alright, I guess I didn't get it?

Liz Heflin: Yeah, I mean, I'm constantly trying to fill the pipeline, even if I'm booked out. And part of that is because I do have the agency that, you know, is a nice, nice place to put overflow contracts if and when they come. But also, because the landscape's tougher, you need to knock on more doors to get those yeses. So, I am, you know, of course, I'm also spending the time writing the contracts, the books that I have, so that takes a good chunk of my time. I'm running the community that I… that I operate, that takes a good chunk of time, but I do always make time for… networking calls, I mean, every… any given week, I'm probably talking to at least I would say between 3 and 7 people, who I think are strategic, good people to know. And, you know, maybe they run publishing houses, and sometimes they partner with ghostwriters, or maybe they're ghostwriters themselves, and they're looking to… to offer overflow contracts. Whatever the case may be. I do always make it a point to meet as many people as I can that I think are good people to know.

ilise: And I do want to get to the third one, I'm not forgetting about that, but you mentioned you're always trying to fill your pipeline, and the pipeline is actually something that we here at The Simplest Marketing Plan and Marketing Mentor are going to be super focused on helping people fill in 2026, especially. So, I'm curious, how would you define a pipeline? What is it for people who aren't really sure? And how… beyond anything you've already said, do you think about filling your pipeline? What does it mean?

Liz Heflin: Yeah, sure. I mean, I just… I think of my pipeline as kind of all of the outstanding maybes that I still have of all these prospects I've met, and it's very much a continuum, a scale here, that some, I think, are very close to ready, some, I think, are not even remotely close yet, but we've had a conversation. So it's just all of those people, wherever they are on that spectrum, of people who I think, yeah, they… they could materialize into project. So that's… that's kind of what I consider my pipeline. And I… I just make it a point to follow up with them, to nurture those relationships, even if it's just dropping them a a Happy Thanksgiving email, like, I know I'm gonna be sending a bunch of emails, you know, later today and tomorrow, of just, you know, grateful our paths have crossed, and… and just, and just… keeping those fires warm. So, it's, you know, it's not reinventing the wheel in terms of the follow-up and the nurturing. It's just… it's just kind of being a good human and keeping those people top of mind.

ilise: And how do you track all of that? Do you use a… what do they call that? A customer relationship management system? Is it just a list on a spreadsheet? What works for you?

Liz Heflin: Yeah, so I do have a CRM, but that's more for, like, the people who are on my newsletter list, the people who are in my community, the sort of traditional customers, you would say. For prospect tracking, I have a Google Sheet it's nothing fancy, other than, my husband, who is quite techy, has put some nice little custom script in there, so it will… I… I… I was just looking at my sheet yes, this morning, I should say, and… I was… I was really surprised. I was like, wow, all of these conversations and things, all this work, all this legwork, there's a good 50 people on this list of… Maybe they want a book, and you don't really realize how much it builds and how quickly it builds, but looking back, I was like, oh yeah? That was a great conversation. Oh yeah, maybe that person will be ready next year. Oh yeah, that person isn't… I know they're not there yet, but maybe they will get there. So it's, it's a… it's really a nice way to take control of your business, if nothing else. You really feel like you are steering the ship and navigating in the right direction when you can see all of these people who are potential work coming in down the line.

ilise: Yeah. You talked about… building how the relationship spilled, and that connects, in my mind, to one of the ideas we've…

Liz Heflin: And trust does not happen automatically. You don't just cold email somebody. Very rarely, I should say, do you cold email somebody? And you're just instantly… given somebody's trust. You have to earn it, and you can do that through small, consistent gestures. And it absolutely, you know, some people are going to be ready after 4 touches, some people are going to be ready after 12, whatever the number is. But the more people you have, and the more people you keep singing and following up with and developing and re-nurturing. Eventually, you know, enough of those pieces will fall into place.

ilise: Yes. Alright, so before we wrap up, let's go back to that third proposal and hear a little bit about that.

Liz Heflin: Okay, let's see, which one am I missing here? Okay, we've got… So, this is an interesting… this is a good one to talk about. This is someone who came through my LinkedIn feed. I had posted some article or piece of content, and he messaged me on LinkedIn, I'm looking for a writer who can help me out, and I immediately jumped on a call with him, you know, a few weeks later, whatnot, just to… just to say hi, and he had a crediting project, which is not something that I really do anymore, so I passed that work off to somebody in my agency. And then he had another one, and again, I passed it off, and another one, passed it off. And… the quality of work was always really high, he was always really happy with the people that I was recommending out for this work, everything was great, clients were happy, so that trust had been built, like I was saying, slowly over time, little piece, little piece, little piece. So when he had this big… ghostwriting contract, he thought to… he thought to pull me in. The guy had some questions about the process, and how ghostwriting even worked, and whether he needed one, and… and he said, would you be willing to jump on a call and just talk to this guy and answer some of his questions? And I said, absolutely. And, and here we are, waiting to see if it falls into place. But that's an interesting one, because it is a mix of showing up consistently on LinkedIn, building relationships, networking.

ilise: It's so good that you are breaking down the steps and the process for all of this stuff in your business, that's really helpful to people, because it's easy to talk in generalities and very vague terms about all of these things, but I think it's really helpful when people are as specific as you are being, so I thank you for that.

Liz Heflin: Of course, of course. I know, and especially, like, with mindset stuff, it is really easy to speak in generalities, but, you know, when you pair the mindset stuff with the nitty-gritty, I feel like that's when you really start seeing the traction, when the… when the wheels really start spinning. Okay, okay, I've got my head right. Now, what direction do I go in? Point me.

ilise: And so, I have two questions, I want to ask you before we wrap up. One is… so, you've described all of this, and I'm curious if you ever have what they call imposter syndrome that gets in the way of you taking the actions that you're obviously taking.

Liz Heflin: Yeah, you know, it is… it's funny, this is another kind of thing where you almost don't want to say it out loud because you know that it is such a prevalent problem for others. I have always been blessed with maybe an overabundance of confidence. But I've always been eminently… convinced of my ability to handle things, whatever comes my way. And I wish I had a magic wand to give that to everybody, and I wish I had a perfect understanding of how I got to that point. But, but, you know, I'm not gonna say, of course, there are times when everybody doubts themselves to some degree. But… I… I have a… a good ability to… to jump. And maybe it's jump even if you're afraid, is a good way… good way to put it. And I think that's been… it's just been huge in my business, the fact I'm able… or willing, I should say, to just… okay, just do it.

ilise: Yeah, and I think the way you framed it also is very, I don't know, positive, this idea… it's not like you can do anything, it's you can handle anything. Whatever comes, you will handle it. To me, that's what confidence is. I'm sure I can figure it out.

Liz Heflin: Yeah, very much. Yeah, no, I think… I think that's definitely a good way to frame it. I think there's a lot of power in that.

ilise: So, my second question, final question, is… so, you're booked out, or almost booked out for 2026, which is fantastic. So, what is your marketing plan for 2027? You know, is there anything different you'll be doing, or is it basically just continuing this consistency that you've already described?

Liz Heflin: Yeah, I mean, the goal, if I can say it out loud, is to keep being booked out, and to keep raising my rate, so that, you know, I can, again, work with more amazing clients, and just keep that ball rolling. And what I'll be doing to accomplish that, is what I'm doing right now. It's continuing to nurture those long-term relationships I have in my pipeline, those people who will materialize in something down the line. So, I post on LinkedIn. Monday to Friday, I do that consistently, and that's been really transformational and really important in my business. And then, those meetings with… with people who I feel are going to be good people to know. I… I did recently invest in a networking group that has really yielded some incredible relationships and some really great opportunities. So, meeting people, and just making sure that my name is out there, that people know what I do, that I'm an option for these given things, and just doing that consistently is very much part of my marketing routine.

ilise: Great. Well, I thank you again for sharing all of your wisdom and your experience, and the nitty-gritty of how you run your business. That's really helpful.

Liz Heflin: Of course. And I hope, you know, for anybody who's listening, if you are a freelance writer, or in the writing world, it's a… it's a great supportive…

ilise: Great.

Liz Heflin: community.

ilise: And that's exactly what I am trying to train people to do and to instill. So, this is kind of a perfect… I don't know, segue into the next year for me, so I don't know yet when I'm gonna publish this, but it'll be… just to start the year, I think this is a nice motivational episode. So, again, I thank you, Liz. Tell the people where they can find you and your community online.

Liz Heflin: Of course, yeah, so you can always find me on LinkedIn, that's it's just Liz Heflin. If...