Adoption Profile Mistakes: Self-Matching Edition

Are you self-matching your adoption and worried about your profile? I know it can be scary to know what is the right thing to say and where even to say it. I mean, what even is an adoption profile for self-matching? Do you ever feel the same way?

I know that when my clients are just starting, they often tell me that they posted on an opportunity after opportunity, and we're not hearing anything. And that can feel pretty discouraging. They tell me that they just want to know what to do step-by-step to avoid wasting their time and energy when sharing their adoption profile when they are self-matching.

So today, I will share with you three things not to do with your adoption profile when you are self-matching so you aren’t wasting your time, energy, and money.

Those mistakes are:

Not being clear on what is an actual adoption profile and calling a post in a group your profile!
Posting on social media without a plan
Not having a content sharing strategy or just assuming people will stumble upon it

Mistake 1: Not being clear on what is an actual adoption profile and calling a post in a group your profile!

Mistake number one is not being clear about what an adoption profile is when it comes to self-matching your adoption. Many people say, "I'm posting on opportunities in groups, but I'm not getting picked.” I’m here to say, that is not an adoption profile. Repeat after me a post in a group is not a profile. When I talk with expectant parents that match through social media, I ask them how they found the adoptive family that they matched with. They tell me that they first came across the profile on social media in one of two ways. First, they either saw a post in a group and then clicked on their profile. Or second, they were served an ad for a hopeful adoptive family, and then they clicked on the profile. Either way, they're clicking on the name that is posting the ad or the post in the Social Media Group, and they're going back to that page expecting that to be their adoption profile, expecting to learn more about you and looking for where they can find out more information about you. From there, they click and look to see if you have a website. If you have a website, they're looking and expecting to see an adoption video on that website as well as deeper information about you.

The very first mistake that I hear a lot from hopeful adoptive families, based upon my conversations with expectant families that have matched with hopeful adoptive families, is that they're just treating a post in a group on an opportunity as their only shot to match with these expectant families and not thinking about the overall journey that these expectant families are going on to get to know you a little bit more.

Mistake 2: Posting on social media without a plan

Mistake number two is posting on social media without a plan. If you are posting junk and garbage to your profile, that is the impression that you're expecting parents will view. You must treat your Facebook profile like it is your adoption profile book. You need to post with intentionality, and it needs to have core content. You're going to update with new examples and fresh things that are going on in your life.

Posting random memes to your adoption profile page on Facebook does not serve you. You may think they're funny, but if it doesn't get back to who you are as a person in a clear, logical way, it's a distraction. When I talk with expectant parents, they tell me that they think the hopeful parents are not taking this seriously when they see posts like that. Everybody has a different perspective on things in life, and I totally get that. You want to be able to share the fun, the funny, and what makes you unique. But find a way to share that so that it doesn't distract from who you are as a person, or does it make it confusing or hard to get to know you.

Mistake 3: Not having a content sharing strategy or just assuming people are going to stumble upon it

The third mistake that I see for adoption profiles when is not having a sharing plan for it. You can't just post and pray to find a match. With that plan, you will never match my friend. I hate to say that, and it's not that I don't trust God or anything like that. So please don't go that route; it was just a convenient way to make the point. But the point is that you're not doing your job when you are just posting and not sharing it intentionally with people that could be considering placing a child for adoption or asking friends and family to share it.

When you are self-matching, it is your job to match. It is your job to share your profile so that you can match. Having an adoption profile sharing plan is important. I teach my clients how to do this one-on-one, and it's not hard. But sometimes, you just need a little accountability and a little direction to push you on your way. That's what many of my one-to-one clients want to work with me on. They like having help with establishing what their plan should be. I'm happy to be that kind of accountability buddy for you as you go through this because if you are not sharing your adoption profile, the chances of matching are incredibly slim.

I hope you found this blog helpful and better understand mistakes to avoid when creating your adoption profile for self-matching adoptions. If you want a simple step-by-step process to avoid these mistakes, you should join the free profile training I am hosting. In the training, I will walk you through the plan to avoid these mistakes and show you what my 1:1 clients do to ultimately be successful in reaching their goal of becoming an adoptive parent. Click here to get signed up for your seat.

Remember, anything is possible with the right plan and support, and I am here with you every step of the way.

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