How to Unlock the Secret to Reaching Readers You're Missing - BM533

Your ideal readers may already be looking for your book. So why aren't they buying it?

The answer may surprise you.

Most authors write and market to people who think just like they do. It feels natural. Unfortunately, it also means they're unintentionally overlooking a large part of their audience.

This week's guest is Sheila Glazov, award-winning author, internationally recognized personality expert, and creator of the Brain Color Method. She shares how understanding the different ways people think, communicate, and make decisions can completely change the way you market your book.

Imagine knowing why one reader is motivated by facts, another by relationships, another by creativity, and another by action. When you understand these differences, your marketing becomes more effective because you're speaking your readers' language, not just your own.

Whether you're writing website copy, networking, speaking, or promoting your book, Sheila offers practical ideas you can start using immediately.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why your marketing may only be attracting people who think like you. Learn how to spot the readers you're unintentionally leaving behind.
• The simple shift that helps your book appeal to more people without changing your message. Reach different personality types while staying authentic.
• How the four Brain Colors influence buying decisions. Discover why some readers want facts, others want stories, and others want possibilities before they say yes.
• Why knowing your own Brain Color could become your greatest marketing advantage. Your strengths can help you shine, but they can also create blind spots.
• How to build stronger relationships everywhere you market your book. Sheila shares a memorable strategy that can improve networking, conversations, and even difficult situations.

If you've ever wondered why your message resonates with some people but falls flat with others, this conversation could change the way you think about book marketing forever.

Tune in for a fresh approach to audience connection and actionable advice you can use today.

Here's how to connect with Sheila:

Buy your copy of What Color Is Your Brain? 

Website: https://www.sheilaglzov.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheilaglazov/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-n-glazovaa96237 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheilaglazov/

Blue Sky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/authorsheilaglazov.bsky.social

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Transcript

Susan Friedmann [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas and tips from the masters. Every week I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books. Today, my special guest is Sheila Glazoff. Sheila is an award winning and internationally known author, personality, expert educator and and professional speaker. She's been interviewed by national and international media. Today's Chicago Woman newspaper selected Sheila as one of the hundred women making a difference. Sheila's innovated methodology has won praise for her in conference rooms and classrooms around the world. Her workshops and books inspire adults and children to see the best in themselves, appreciate the strengths of others, and build more positive relationships.

Susan Friedmann [00:01:00]:
Sheila, what an absolute pleasure it is to welcome you to the show and thank you for being this week's guest, expert and mentor.

Sheila Glazov [00:01:09]:
Thank you, Susan. Since I'm a listener to your podcast, this is an honor and a pleasure.

Susan Friedmann [00:01:14]:
Well, that's so wonderful to hear. You said you've listened to me many times and so that's so exciting that now the tables are turned and I'm interviewing you so you'll be able to listen to you on the podcast, which is a treat. Sheila, you've identified brain colors that influence how people think, make decisions and communicate. Can you give us a brief overview of the colors and explain how understanding them can help authors understand market their books more effectively?

Sheila Glazov [00:01:50]:
So a brief overview is My brain colors really came from the Myers Brigg Type indicator, which is 16 personality types put in a letter format. However, when I was teaching third grade, my students told me I was correcting their papers incorrectly. And I went to the new reading teacher because learning disabilities and neurodiversity was brand new then. And she told me I had dyslexia. And I said, how did I get that? And she said, sheila, it's just how your brain works. That's really how this all started. And when I had a business that was called Visual Impact Planning, I was doing problem solving on storyboards and I found that people, Susan, were so ugly when they started to talk about their ideas and they'd say, that's stupid. I don't like that.

Sheila Glazov [00:02:42]:
Why? How could we ever use that? And I said, there has to be a better way. Having taught the Myers Briggs and thinking it was such a wonderful tool because it is the oldest personality type indicator, it was developed during World War II to decide where the people who were volunteering or being inducted into the armed services, what positions they would have. And so I thought my background as an early Childhood learning educator and then high school English as a second language and college creativity just led me to what color is your brain? Because it seemed natural to me to use the colors. I love that, you know, I started studying about what the colors meant, and that's how I came up with the orange, yellow, green and blue process. And it helps people understand who they are and it really radiates around them because color is our greatest stimulant. We always see the color around us.

Susan Friedmann [00:03:41]:
They were so expressive.

Sheila Glazov [00:03:43]:
Yes. And they can bring us such pleasure. I'm on my porch, as I told you, looking out at my gardens and all the beautiful colors that mother nature gives us. Well, I decided that I would use orange, yellow, green and blue, as I said before. And the yellow people on my logo, people can see that my logo has a right angle for the yellow people, because yellow people need to be right and they need to be prepared and they need to be organized. And. And as one fifth grader said with my children's book, one day, you know, Mrs. G, I'm rependable.

Sheila Glazov [00:04:15]:
I said, eric, I know you come from the yellow village, but what does that mean? He said, I'm responsible, I'm respectful, I'm accountable and dependable. And those are our yellow people. They're rependable. And then you think about the opposite of the yellow people. What the yellow people are on either side of your brain, your temporal lobes for memory and speech, and then your frontal lobe, which is, which is the orange colored lobe, is your frontal lobe, the last lobe in your brain to develop. And that's why I always say to people, teenagers especially, need parents and teachers to guide them because they do not have that executive decision making skill developed yet. That doesn't happen till they're 25 or 30. And so you see the orange brain people who are spontaneous and fun loving.

Sheila Glazov [00:05:01]:
And sometimes they aren't as organized as people would want them to be. But if you give them a task, they'll say, I can do that. Let's do it. And then you have the blue people, your occipital lobe in the back of your head and your occipital lobe obviously gives you the ability to see. And blue people not only have the ability to see, we hope, but they also have the ability to have insight. They're very intuitive people. And there are talkers, our communicators, our teachers, our helpers. And the last but not least is your parietal lobe.

Sheila Glazov [00:05:35]:
Those are the green brain people opposite of the blue brain people. The green brainers are the logical, analytical people and the way the blue people wear their hearts on their sleeves. I always say that the green people wear their hearts inside their sleeves, Susan. They never want to look vulnerable. They care about other people, but they don't show their emotions. So I tell people, you are a brainbo. You're a combination of all those colors, depending on the circumstances.

Susan Friedmann [00:06:07]:
Oh, I love that brainbow. That's so cool. Most authors know who their audience is, but of course, many struggle to, let's say, understand what motivates people to pay attention and to take action. So how can authors identify which brain colors they're naturally attracting and which groups they may be missing out on altogether?

Sheila Glazov [00:06:34]:
I think it's important. I know when I write my books, I need to think about. What you're talking about is all the different kinds of brain color. People are going to look at my books and then hopefully buy my book because they can relate to it. So if you think about the yellow people and you want to market to the yellow people, you need to make sure that you plan your book and the layout of your book, the COVID of your book, that it is well organized. And so people don't. And especially in today's world, you have to shorten everything, just like the guest you had last week, making things shorter and smaller because people don't have the attention span. But you need to make sure that it's organized.

Sheila Glazov [00:07:19]:
For the blue people, you need to make sure that when you're doing your book, that the people who are reading your book feel like you're talking to them, that you're comfortable with what they're learning. You don't want to talk above them. And you might be a professor and be very, very bright, but you need to remember you want people to feel comfortable. You're helping them with what they're reading, and the blue people are the helpers. And for the green people, it needs to be logical. So when you're structuring your table of contents, it needs to make sense, it needs to be logical. For the green brain people, you just can't skip around, make it in a logical format for people to understand what you're wanting to communicate to them. And last but not least, with the orange people, you need to put something fun into your book, something that they will enjoy.

Sheila Glazov [00:08:13]:
And one of the things that people seem to really relate to are stories. No matter what color brain they have, people really relate well to stories. That way, you have the brain bow when you're writing your book. And also if you put information on the back of your book and quotes in your book or the front of your book or on the back. That's very important for the orange brain people.

Susan Friedmann [00:08:36]:
This is something that most people don't even think about.

Sheila Glazov [00:08:39]:
No.

Susan Friedmann [00:08:40]:
And I just love this idea of, yes, who's your audience? But then anybody could pick up your book. You've got to appeal to all four colors. Obviously, that can create blind spots in an author's marketing. And they might even do it without realizing it, because I know that I have. I mean, just thinking about what you're talking about here. So talk about some common mistakes that authors might make when they're speaking only to people, they think like what they

Sheila Glazov [00:09:19]:
do, for instance, we have to think about. Because you may not know who you're speaking about or speaking to. Right. And I always tell people, just imagine that you and your book are in the middle of an intersection, and in the middle of this intersection, you're standing there, and you can see all four corners. And you look at those corners. They're all different because there's a yellow person standing on the corner, and they're wearing a backpack. And in that backpack, Susan, is their backstory. You don't know their backstory.

Sheila Glazov [00:09:52]:
They know their backstory, and sometimes they don't remember what's in their backpack. And something triggers a memory for them to remember that they're standing on that yellow corner, and then there's a person on the blue corner. And what's their perspective of your book? And what do they see from their perspective and also from the backpack and backstory that they're carrying? We need to get to know people. And then you look at the green person standing on this other corner, this third corner, and they're not really the talkative people, so you're not sure how to communicate with them. So you have to learn to communicate with them in a way that you respect their privacy, but you get to know who they are so they'll understand why the book can be helpful to them in a blue perspective, because the blue people are the helpers. And then you look at the orange people, and they're standing on the corner with their pack, and they're ready to go. I know exactly what. I'm just going to buy this book.

Sheila Glazov [00:10:53]:
It's terrific. I love the color. And they don't have any idea what's in the book. And you want to explain the really enjoyable parts of your book to them, what they're going to enjoy in it, and the green people, what they're going to learn from it and the blue people, how it's going to help them and the yellow people, that it will help them be more responsible in what they need to do or solve their problems. Because blue people are worriers, because it will help them solve a problem.

Susan Friedmann [00:11:21]:
This is like a whole language on its own. I love this.

Sheila Glazov [00:11:25]:
People speak brain color.

Susan Friedmann [00:11:26]:
Yes. Let's sort of bring it down to the lowest common denominator if we can, and sort of. What are maybe some simple ways authors can adapt, let's say, their website or a book description, a presentation, or even their social media content to appeal to all these four brain colors?

Sheila Glazov [00:11:48]:
Well, I tell people if they go on my site and they take a quiz or they buy the book and take a quiz, then they'll figure out their brain color. But their normal actions are to make a plan. They feel really comfortable about making a plan. They make a list before they go to the grocery store. The people are comfortable when everything is laid out in front of them. And then you have the orange brain people, and they just love popping ideas. And I love this way of thinking about it. I'm a blue brainer, so I pop ideas.

Sheila Glazov [00:12:21]:
And my college roommate always says to me, sheila, you have the blue balloons all over and you're popping ideas, but her yellow brain organizes it and ties it all with a yellow ribbon. That makes a difference of how you pop those ideas, but do have someone who can help you pull all those ideas together. And the green brainers do that very easily because they like doing their research. And whether you're, of course, a nonfiction book or a fiction book, you have to do your research. I think you love your library because the librarians are so helpful and do your research there. I know you can do it online, but I like going to the library also, because sometimes the librarians know things you don't know. And the green brain people love to do that research. That's part of their process.

Sheila Glazov [00:13:09]:
And the orange brain people, they just have fun doing it. I love writing. I love sitting down, just jotting down my notes and. And they'll have all kinds of notes on napkins because they were in a restaurant eating or a piece of paper that they found in their purse and they went, oh, my gosh, I need to write this down. They're very spontaneous about their ideas. And just knowing that helps you organize what you're going to write and how you're going to market, if you understand who you are and how you do it, and if you can't do all those things, because some of us Are not gifted with the talents that other people have, as I call them, praiseworthy gifts. You go to other people who do have those praiseworthy gifts. Like you published, Susan.

Sheila Glazov [00:13:55]:
So you're another person that people can go to they don't want to publish. I have a dear friend who's a graphic designer. I go to her because she has those gifts. Of course, I go to my husband for the legal parts, the green parts, and then I bake him cookies. Payment, darling, I'll make your poppy seed cookies for you. Then you go to your orange brain funds, who you know are going to be able to, like you do markets or another friend of mine who does pr. You find those people and you make a team of these brainbow people. And if you look at a rainbow, you know, one color just blends into the next.

Sheila Glazov [00:14:32]:
Nothing's ever definitive. So you can make that all work by bringing all those people together and all those brain colors for yourself together. Especially people learning how to use technology and use their green brain, they would prefer not to do that so they can find someone to help them. But then they can move forward and learn how to do that themselves.

Susan Friedmann [00:14:54]:
And knowing what I know about disc model and Myers Briggs, there's no best personality type. Correct. I mean, we've got a little bit of all of the colors within us.

Sheila Glazov [00:15:06]:
Yes. And they change. You can change your brain colors. And I think if you know that it's more comfortable for people because no one likes to be put in a box, Susan. That's not comfortable for people to be just labeled. And this lets them figure out who they are and communicate with other people in different ways, depending on who you're talking to.

Susan Friedmann [00:15:27]:
And also, I think what you're pointing out, too, is this self awareness, because that too is going to improve our relationships. Talk to us a little bit more about that self awareness. And when you're networking or even giving a presentation, how to be cognizant of the different colors as you're working with people.

Sheila Glazov [00:15:51]:
Thank you. I always say to people, if you're aware, your praiseworthy gifts are there. Just be aware of people. Listen to them. Sometimes it's really hard for people to remember to listen and stop talking. I have a friend and I write about him in my book, and he gave me his clues to sincerely listen to people. And that's lovely. Not hear them physiologically, but sincerely listen, look them in the eye, listen to what they're saying.

Sheila Glazov [00:16:22]:
It's like when your children are little and they tug on you. Mommy, mommy, mommy, Listen to me. People Just want to be listened to. If you give people the space and you listen to them, they will tell you what color brain they have. Susan, Just listen to the words they say. And sometimes you listen to people. And the yellow people will say, well, I have to get this done or I should do that or oh, that would be the right thing to do. And the blue people will tell you how much they love it and how meaningful it is to them.

Sheila Glazov [00:16:52]:
And thank you so much. And the green people don't say too much. You can see them processing sometimes. You absolutely can see their wheels turning. But they're not the people who. Until they feel comfortable with you, that they're going to come out and tell you everything. And then you've got the orange people and they're just ready to go. And sometimes you have to stop them and say, hold on, let's go back, let's think about this and just listen to the people.

Sheila Glazov [00:17:20]:
But remember to sincerely listen to them.

Susan Friedmann [00:17:23]:
And I think the whole point of being adaptable, as well as you're interacting, you're listening because I'm very much of a blue, let's say. But if I'm listening to somebody who's yellow, for instance, I mean, my husband's very analytical, very yellow. I've definitely got to adapt my speech and how I talk to him about certain things that he can relate because otherwise he doesn't relate to what I'm saying.

Sheila Glazov [00:17:55]:
That's so true. I do not ask Jordan how he feels about something unless I'm talking about someone in our family. I ask him what he thinks because his first thought is to think about something. You talk to a yellow person. I talk to my college roommate every day. And I said, oh, Michelle, what are you planning for today? I have another friend who's very orange. And I'm saying, okay, what fun idea do you have, Suzette? And so if you use those words, there just a little trigger that someone says, oh, you're listening to me. You know about me, you're aware of me and you care.

Sheila Glazov [00:18:28]:
And I think in today's world, people want to know that somebody cares about them and they're not looking over your shoulder to see who else is coming in the room at a networking event to see who they can talk to. You're looking them in the eye and talking to them and talking to them in their brain color because you've listened to them and you know how to communicate with them.

Susan Friedmann [00:18:47]:
Now talk about conflict, because that often could be. And help me with this, different perspectives. And if you're not listening and connecting with that person, there could well be a conflict. Talk to us more about that.

Sheila Glazov [00:19:05]:
Listen. Thank you. I just finished my article for Rainsey magazine about resolution and conflict. And I always tell people it's a no brainer if you know your brain colors and the conflict comes. And sometimes it's just misunderstanding and not really knowing about what the person is really upset about. When it comes to a conflict, you can talk to the other brain colors very easily. But the other thing I tell people, which I love telling people because it's so easy. And I learned this from my college roommate's mother.

Sheila Glazov [00:19:40]:
She cut an article out of the plane dealer, the Cleveland plane dinner when we were in college and sent this poem to us. And it's called Wet Paint. And I tell people, if you're in a conflict and you aren't in a place where you really feel comfortable about resolving it or talking about it, many people like the blue people like me, we talk so often and so much and even for a living that sometimes we don't want to talk about when we're upset about something. And sometimes you don't even know why. And if you can just say to whoever you're talking to, I'm blue, wet paint, let me dry, don't touch, give me some time. And that helps to resolve a conflict until you're ready to talk about it. Maybe you had to think more about it because you were so blue and emotional, or maybe you're really orange and you're so disappointed that something didn't happen the way you wanted to, or the yellow, that it wasn't how you planned it. And you're saying, I just can't talk about it right now.

Sheila Glazov [00:20:39]:
It's so easy to say, I'm wet paint, let me dry. We'll talk about it later. And then people are calmer. It helps to resolve the conflict with wet paint.

Susan Friedmann [00:20:50]:
Yeah, that reminds me, people who say, never send a message, a letter, an email when you're really mad. You know, just write it and just let it be. And then come back the following day with a fresh mind.

Sheila Glazov [00:21:07]:
And then it's like revisions. You write, yeah, it's a revision. And then you come back and you say, oh, it's so much better now. You give time to just. I remember when my grandmother would make yeast dough to make a challah and she would let it sit and warm until it would rise and be at the point when she could make the challah. And it's the same thing with this. Sometimes you have to just Sit with it. And I have a friend who always said to me, you sit with it like a brick in your lap.

Sheila Glazov [00:21:37]:
And if you just sit with it for a while, it will resolve some of your emotions and you'll be able to communicate better about it. Because when we get so emotional, especially we blue people, sometimes it just, it gets out of control. And so if you take the time to just be wet paint like a park bench and just let yourself sit down, let it dry, take your time, it's so much easier. And then also, you don't say things you can't take back. Once you've said it, it's out there. And then you say, oh, I really didn't mean that, but that's not how I meant to say it. So I always remember to tell people about wet paint.

Susan Friedmann [00:22:19]:
I love that this is a great segue, Sheila, for you to talk about how our listeners can find out more about wet, the colors, and to find out more about you and your book. So take it away.

Sheila Glazov [00:22:36]:
Well, as I said, I started doing this as an introduction to my storyboarding, which I want to tell your audience. That's a great way to do your books. You can open up your dining room table. You can have a sheet of insulation. Like I use 4x4 to put my storyboards together, or sometimes people just put Post-its on the wall. And what I do with my books is I use a storyboard and I put everything out there. I take what I've learned from other people and I take from doing my programs and see what my focus is. My yellow focus is going to be for my book.

Sheila Glazov [00:23:14]:
It's about teaching you in different categories of your life and how you're going to use your brain colors. My latest book just came out. It was What Color Is Your Brain? And it's the same title as the original one that was published 20 years ago. And we realized that so much has changed in 20 years. Susan in this book, I talk about remote workers and remote learners because we didn't have people doing that before. For me, it's important to make it relevant. And I was thrilled because the book sold over 41,000 books. And I know that it's traveled all over the world, and I know it's helped people.

Sheila Glazov [00:23:54]:
And now a friend of mine just took this book. In my children's book, Princess Shayna's Invisible Visible Gift, she was going with her brother to Kathmandu, and then she was going to a city, a little village at the bottom of Mount Everest, and taking my books there to the top of the world. And for me, being an educator, I love knowing that other people all over the world are using what color is your brain? And it's helping them solve their problems, communicate with other people. As the subtitle says on my book, decode your personality and discover what makes you and others tick. Improve your communications and your relationships. And that's what the book does. That's what my programs do. And if people want to go and look online, you can just look up sheilaglazov.com Otherwise, you can just put in your brain color.

Sheila Glazov [00:24:48]:
And the fun thing to tell your listeners is my gift to all of you because you always talk about people giving a gift at the end of your segments, which is so lovely and generous that there are 11 different quizzes on my website. And there's no cost to them. They're for free. And you can go and take a quiz depending on your personal life, your professional life, your romantic life, depending on what you're doing and what you want to learn. And they're really great fun. I just caution people to do it by yourself so no one looks over your shoulder and says, oh, Susan, I don't think you're like that. I think you're like this. This way you discover who you are.

Sheila Glazov [00:25:24]:
And so I always tell people to enjoy learning about themselves. It's fun.

Susan Friedmann [00:25:29]:
Yeah, people love learning about themselves. That in and of itself is a great gift as well. So thank you. Thank you for sharing all of that. And of course, we'll put all of that information in the show notes, Sheila. And as you know, since you've listened to so many episodes, I always ask our guests to leave our listeners with a golden nugget. What's yours?

Sheila Glazov [00:25:53]:
Well, I'm going to leave you with a golden nugget. That's the final stanza of a poem I learned when I was a young child going to Girls overnight camp, and our director of the camp used to always read poetry to us. So I'm going to read you the last stanza by Douglas Mallock, and it's called be the best of whatever you are. If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. It isn't by size that you win or you fail. Be the best at whatever you are.

Susan Friedmann [00:26:22]:
Oh, I love that. That is so beautiful. I just felt the goosebumps on my skin as you were reading this.

Sheila Glazov [00:26:30]:
I'll send you the whole poem, Susan. I love it.

Susan Friedmann [00:26:33]:
Thank you.

Sheila Glazov [00:26:34]:
I wish you a happy brain day and I wish your listeners a Happy Brain Day, and thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

Susan Friedmann [00:26:40]:
Well, I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom. A very different approach, listeners, and I know you're gonna have to re listen to this, especially if this whole concept of personalities and colors are new to you. Absolutely. Listen to this again and tune into Sheila's wisdom. And if your book isn't selling the way you wanted to, expected to, let's you and I jump on a quick call together to brainstorm ways to ramp up those sales. Because you've invested a whole lot of time, money, and energy, and it's time you got the return you were hoping for. So go to bookmarketingbrainstorm.com to schedule your free call. And in the meantime, I hope this powerful interview sparks some ideas you can use to sell more books.

Susan Friedmann [00:27:33]:
Until next week, here's wishing you much book and author marketing success.

Here's how to connect with Sheila:

Buy your copy of What Color Is Your Brain? 

Website: https://www.sheilaglzov.com

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/sheilaglazov/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-n-glazovaa96237 

Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheilaglazov/

Blue Sky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/authorsheilaglazov.bsky.social