How to Make A Great Adoption Profile

I am so glad you decided to join us today to learn all about how to make your adoption profile great.  This is the second post in this series entirely focused on your adoption profile. So if you missed the first post, you could check it out here. They build on each other like a series of nesting dolls, so it does help if you go back and read the first post.

This post is focused on why your profile is so critical to your overall journey, and then we will have a quick refresher on how the adoption profile has evolved over the past few years, the role it should pay play in your adoption journey, and some basic principles about what makes an excellent adoption profile. It is jam-packed!

Your adoption profile can be one of the very most stressful steps in the adoption journey. After all, your day job is likely not marketing. But that is what an adoption profile is that it's all about marketing, marketing your family to expect it, families. But don't stress out about it. That is why I'm here, right? That is the reason why I feel so compelled to help you guys through your adoption journey.

I know what goes into a great adoption profile, not only because I've worked in marketing for over 20 years but because I matched super quickly three times. And honestly, that is the reason why friend after a friend sent either themselves or other friends to me; well, before I started the blog, or the Facebook group or the podcast because people heard that I had adopted so quickly. And they knew someone that was struggling in their adoption journey.

And it just started with so innocently like, hey, can you talk to so and so? Or can you speak to this person? After I spoke to people, I learned that we were all struggling in the same spots, but that I had been there, and I had walked in, and that I had figured out what would work in a particular instance based upon my marketing background. They were teachers, nurses, and some were even lawyers, and marketing was just not their zone of genius.

So when I helped them with the marketing of their family and gave them the emotional support that they needed, that was how they were able to be successful on their journeys. And when you hear me talk about marketing, please know that the very most important thing to remember is that I will always give you the framework and the step-by-step tips to tell your authentic story, that that is what's important here—not giving you some like Jedi mind tricks to play on expected mothers. It’s quite the opposite. I'm giving you the fundamental human truths about sharing who you are so that someone could understand your story and begin to make a connection with you.

And let me pause just for a second and speak to all those who are like, well, marketing is just evil. And you're just tricking these women into placing these children. Let's be super honest here, we're not tricking anybody. That is the furthest thing from what I'm suggesting that we do. I am suggesting that you be authentically who you are. And that will attract your ideal expectant mother because she will find something in your profile that strikes a chord with her.

Whether it is the most minor thing, like you like the same TV show or you like to go to Steeler football games, these are real-life examples of what our children’s birth mothers shared that struck a chord with them. They said detail like that helped them understand who we were as people. We loved organized sports, we loved experiences of traveling to games, we loved silly quotes from TV shows, those types of things really brought us to life to our ideal expectant mothers, and they resulted in successful adoptions.

I'm not suggesting that you trick anyone or coerce anyone into adoption. That is not marketing. Marketing is just authentically sharing who you are as a person, telling your story. Okay, soapbox away. I know it's a little early in the post for the soapbox to come out. And probably if you caught on in the last post, I have got a little passion as relates to getting in a great adoption profile out there because that is how you tell your story. So, apologies for the soapbox appearances. I will try to keep them to a minimum, friend.

Why Your Adoption Profile Is Critical

Alright, so now let's dive into why your adoption profile is so critical to your overall adoption journey. The harsh truth is that without a great adoption profile, you simply will not get the opportunity for that initial Hello, or that initial discussion with an expectant family that you so incredibly desire. I know that that sounds scary. But the harsh truth is just that I'm always going to give you the good with the bad. That's just the way we roll around here because we know that the adoption journey is not all sunshine and roses.

So I'm not going to make it seem that way. She has got to want to talk to you after reading your book, PDF, or seeing your posts on social media; she’s going to spark to something that creates a connection with her. And if your profile is confusing, too long, or looks like everyone else's, she will not feel drawn to you. She won't feel intrigued enough to ask you a question or compelled enough to collect to get to know you better.

We all know that a profile book alone will not create the connection that we want with our ideal expectant mothers in this digitally connected world.  We have so much information at our fingertips that having a book is just not going to cut it. It’s not going to be the only way that she wants to hear from us. She expects to get to know you on a deeper level, to hear your voice, see your daily life, and start to form her own opinions about you before she even has a conversation with you.

So not only is your adoption profile critical, but it's critical to think about that profile is multiple touchpoints and have a clear strategy on how those touchpoints work together to paint a clear and compelling picture of who you are as a family.

The Role Of Your Adoption Profile If You Are Self Matching

If you're self-matching, you need to focus on getting in her initial consideration set and then staying there long enough to start a conversation. So you need to share your profile by having these snackable content pieces that you can share in multiple places that ladder back together.  This will create an overall sense of who you are, as well as standing on its own.  This is important since you are the one trying to get the attention of expectant mothers, rather than relying on being in a smaller pool with an agency that would have had them coming straight to your door.

Your content strategy is important if you are self matching. In this type of adoption, having the right content strategy can make all the difference in the amount of time it takes to succeed in your adoption journey. I'm not saying you can't self-match. Instead, I'm saying that you need to be super focused on what you're sharing, how and where you're sharing it. Because you have a small pool of expectant mothers to talk to, but yet you're at a massive pool of hopeful adoptive families. So not only does your content need to be excellent, but you need to be very strategic about how and where you share it. So you can create that connection with her to stand out from the sea of hopeful adoptive families.

The Role of Your Adoption Profile If You Are Adopting with An Adoption Agency

If you're using an agency, or an attorney, or maybe even a consultant, you need to focus differently since they're doing some of that initial attraction of expectant families. Your focus needs to switch to the overall content strategy and how the different elements work together. Because the agency will be directly showing your profile more directly and a one to one with the same principles apply as it relates to the quality of the content, the need for a content strategy, you just have a greater chance of standing out because the sea of hopeful adoptive families is a little bit smaller.

Though I will say that many hopeful adoptive families again are advised by their agency to reach out to expectant mothers versus well, so your best bet is to be intensely focused on your profile, your content, and your content strategy as those that are self-matching. I know I threw a lot of words there around content and content strategy, and it may sound like I'm speaking a different language. But don't worry, I have you covered. As always, remember, we have that free training. And we will dive deeper into this idea of content and content strategy there. But for now, just know it is essential to have a clear content strategy.

I know that the profile and everything I'm talking about related to marketing can sound super confusing. And I promise you it's it isn't. I always have you covered, what the step by step. But if you are stuck and struggling in your profile right this second, and you're like, I just don't know what to do. Jump on over to the Facebook group. I'm always happy to answer your questions. Please don't struggle alone. Jump into the Facebook group and let me help you.

3 Steps To Making A Great Adoption Profile

1.     Know where you are headed

2.     Know who you are talking to

3.     Create the content

Step 1: Know where you are headed

As with most things in life, it's a bit easier to get to your destination if you have a clear vision of that destination. The same holds for your adoption profile. Not only do you need to have a clear vision of what you want your adoption to be like and the life after your adoption. But you need to have a clear vision of your family's story so that you can tell it effectively. There is a real art and science to storytelling.

Because if you confuse, you lose your audience. And if you lose your audience, they don't want to engage and learn more about your family. So if you're taking a different post every single week, or maybe even every single day, in a million different directions, then it can be super confusing for your audience.

Let's talk about just this make-up an example on the fly here. So if in one post, you're talking about how you love to travel, and how you love to eat, and how you love to learn things about new cultures, and how you love football and flowers, right? So you talk about all your favorite items. Okay, so maybe you have one post where you talk about all your favorite things. But that could be too much for her to take in and one post, and it could come off pretty confusing.

Instead, maybe you think about having a content series similar to what I do here on the podcast, right? Where over three or four days, you talk all about Laura's favorite things. And on the first day, you talk about how you love to travel. On the second day, you talk about how you love to try new restaurants or culturally diverse foods or foods specific to that area when you travel. The next thing, maybe you talk about how you love to go to football games when you travel. Then she starts to get this whole idea of Laura likes to travel, and when she travels, she likes to try different restaurants and go to football games. It begins forming this clear picture of who you are, as a family you love to travel.

So that's what I mean when I talk about know where you're headed, right? What are you trying to communicate? And then how do you break it up into little sections to where she can get a better idea of who you are. And listen, that's just kind of one strategy to make your content strategy, but I just wanted to give you kind of a sneak peek into all of the amazing stuff that we'll talk about and those free training coming up.

Step 2: Know who you are talking to

You've probably heard me talk about this a bit before in other areas and the Facebook group or on the podcast. But it is essential to have a clear picture of who your ideal expectant mother is so that you can engage with her. I know this may sound a little strange, like, how do you even know somebody that you don't know. And just even this concept of an ideal expected match. I'm going to try to talk about this without bringing out my soapbox here, but there is the perfect match for you. And for an ideal expected family out there somewhere.

So, let's keep using this example of how Laura likes to travel. Right? Laura being the hopeful adoptive parent here in this situation. So maybe Laura loves to travel. And maybe your ideal expectant mother will call her. Maybe Suzy. So maybe Suzy loves to travel too. And Suzy loves the unexpected adventures that come along with traveling. And perhaps Laura continues her series on maybe some airport high jinks that happened on her last trip. Maybe Suzy’s, like, you know, I love the way Laura sees life through her travels. I love the adventures that she has in her sense of adventure. And that reminds me a lot of myself. And so, therefore, Suzy sees in Laura something that she sparks too; the whole reason why Laura was initially sharing things about travel is that she wants someone to know that she has a sense of adventure about herself, that she wants to try to do new things and have new experiences because that's the type of ideal expectant mother she has in her mind. Someone who wants to try new experiences in life and wants to give this child some new experiences, too.

Do you see the connection there? Do you see how Laura, having this vision of who Suzy is in her mind and sharing authentically who she is, attracted Suzy authentically? There's no Jedi mind trick of marketing here, right? This is just you authentically sharing who you are. And the universe, God, whatever you want to call it, authentically drawing the two of you together because you have similar characteristics because you have similar passions because you have similar dreams for this child's life.

So again, I know this is the tip of the iceberg, but I wanted you to understand why it is so important that you know who you're talking to. You have this clear vision of your ideal expectant mother in your head to see it from her perspective. That's a real game-changer and making a great adoption profile. If I want to talk about something that again, it will probably sound equally as strange as knowing who you're talking to if you don't know them. But in this idea of there being an ideal expectant mother and an ideal hopeful adoptive family match. If you are force-fitting a match that is not authentic to both parties, you have a greater likelihood of disruption.

Now let me be super precise when I say this, and when I say the word disruption, I'm using that word from a hopeful adoptive parent perspective. And I fully support the expectant parents having the right to change their minds and parent, and I fully support that 100%. I am just sharing that this is more likely to happen if something doesn't feel quite right on both sides. And if that something is, it's just something that we are not the right fit, and I guess it is the best way to say. And if you don't have that, that right fit from the beginning, then that's where it's more likely to disrupt.

There are a zillion reasons why an expected a parent could change their mind or that an adoption could disrupt. But I feel like if you're authentically in an open communication flow relationship from the very beginning, that is less likely to happen. And that is why I think it is super important that you be clear on who your ideal expectant mother is. And you authentically tell your story. Because I believe that is more likely to result in a positive relationship between both parties. And I just think that is so very important.

Listen, I've lived through disruption, right? It was horrific. I can't even describe to you the moment I had to hand her back, where I had to give over my child to a stranger to me, right to parent after, a week before. Actually, for the prior, whatever it was three or four weeks back, they'd made the decision not to parent, again, entirely within their rights. But that was heartbreaking and hard for me for a very long time. I've wondered where she was and what she was doing, and how she was for me for a very, very long time until I finally made peace with it. And as I reflected on that, I just really realized that we weren't the right fit for each other. There was something there that just felt off from the beginning. And for me, it was because I didn't know who they were. I didn't know them as people. That was the way they wanted it. But for me, that wasn't a good fit. I wanted to be able to share things about them with this child as she grew up. And that was not something I was going to be able to provide to her. And was the reason why it disrupted. So who knows? Probably not. But did I feel like I could have done a better job of getting to know who was the right fit for me and getting to know how I would feel equipped to parent and share stories with these, you know, with this child? That's the reason why I'm sharing this today with you guys. Again, you can take it with a grain of salt, but I want you to learn from my mistakes. Okay, so let's move on, maybe get into a more positive space.

Step 3: Creating the right content for your adoption profile

As you've probably heard me say about a million times in this blog post or the podcast, it's essential to have the right content, not only its content that is speaking to the right audience and clearly and compellingly, but also content that creates a connection with your audience, and content that appeals to a variety of different learning types. Again, there is an art and science to making the right content and pairing it with the right content strategy. And that's precisely where we're going to pick up with next week's blog post. Because Listen, we've already covered so much today that I don't think I could cram any more information into your brain today without it just exploding and being overloaded.

Because today, we've talked about why your profile is critical to your overall adoption journey. We've talked about a quick refresher about how the adoption profile has changed and evolved over the past few years. And the role it should play in your adoption journey has given you just a few of the basic principles on making a great adoption profile. And if you want to learn more about the rest of those principles, make sure to sign up for that free training.

The most critical point in today's blog post is that you know you have the power to make your adoption profile great or to update or edit your profile to make it go from good to great. And you know that I'm always going to give you the step-by-step to complete your adoption easier, faster, and more affordable. And me giving you the step-by-step process to make your profile great. Make your adoption easier, faster, and more affordable.

I want you to hear me clearly say that you can do this. You don't have to have degrees in marketing and have spent a billion dollars in advertising budgets for some of the world's largest brands. You don't even have to have matched before because I've done all of those things. And I'm here to share all of those learnings with you to make your adoption easier, faster, and more affordable. Don't forget to sign up for that free training. I promise you will walk away with fire in your belly in this step by step on how to make your adoption profile great. And remember, anything is possible with the plan and support. You can do this, and I have got your back!

Hi, I Am Amanda

I help women build their families through adoption by giving them the step by step guide to adopt a child and support them on their journey