The holiday season is a warm, fuzzy time.  We are usually gathering with family and friends and enjoying traditions, old and new.  This is a great time to add to your Adoptimist diary and share your unique family traditions! Be sure to include pictures of what you have been up to and tell the reader how much you are looking forward to including a child one day.  Here are just a few ideas, things you can just snap pictures of this weekend, to help show and tell your story in your profile. • Decorating the Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush... Read more…

It’s time to get real about your profile photos. Here are 20 good reasons you should consider changing yours today: 1) Blurry / out of focus 2) You aren’t smiling 3) You are frowning 4) Too dark outside / inside 5) Photo is seasonally inappropriate (winter shot in the middle of summer) 6) Eyes not visible - closed / covered by sunglasses 7) Doesn’t actually look like you 8) Over-exposed 9) Outdated photo from a previous decade 10) Not looking at the camera 11) Background is too busy 12) Bad scan / poor image quality 13) Too close... Read more…

“Hi”, “Hello”, “Come on in!” That is what your main photo is.  It is like someone seeing you from across a room and taking a minute to decide things about you in their head before they ever speak to you. It may even decide IF they even talk to you. It is that handshake or pat on the shoulder as you greet someone for the first time. You are inviting expectant parents in to learn more about you, to get to know you better in your profile. Think about the first impression your picture makes. Is it welcoming and inviting? Let ‘em see that face of... Read more…

The first words that a visitor reads when she arrives at your profile will go a long way toward making a solid first impression. Commonly referred to as a dear birthmother letter, on Adoptimist we prefer the term ‘intro letter’ or simply ‘introduction’. Naming conventions aside, it is a vital piece of your adoption profile and you’ll want yours to be as lean and effective as possible. Even if you like your current intro, there are several good reasons for an occasional... Read more…

Every season brings great things you can add to your adoption diary/blog. But summer seems to provide a little more.  That said, I thought I would make a list of some timely topics you can quickly add to your adoption diary/blog this summer.  Tip: When you post a picture and blog about it, remember to include how you hope to share these special moments and memories with a child. Here are 10 ideas for summer additions to your adoption diary: • A day trip to the zoo • Working in the garden • A trip to a water or amusement park • A... Read more…

In my book, The Eye of Adoption, I “interview” my son’s birthmother, Kerri. Our frank discussion covers several pages and many topics, including our personal and emotional experiences with crisis pregnancy, infertility, adoption, and our current open adoption relationship. Scotty will turn four on May 13, 2014. With the interview section in my book and the speaking engagements we do together, Kerri and I have one overarching goal: to minister to others in an... Read more…

What is an Adoptimist Headline? Your headline is the first sentence and the first words that your visitors will see and read when they look at your profile. Formerly designated as space for your intro letter salutation (e.g., ‘Dear Birthmother’, ‘To Someone Special’), a headline is actually a much more powerful and effective tool for your readers. Think of your headline as an attention grabber, a chance to immediately tell your visitors exactly who you are and what your intentions may be (in 120 characters or less). The headline, in... Read more…

It seems like the clock starts ticking the moment you decide adoption is your chosen path.  Even as you complete your initial paperwork, days may already begin to feel longer as your wait to grow your family through domestic adoption begins. With adoption, your life and family can change in an instant. My husband and I started receiving calls and connections almost immediately after submitting our adoption profile. This was no accident. I believe a large reason for our success resulted from the simple fact that I was willing to do anything and everything I... Read more…

Congratulations. You finally have an adoption profile you can be proud of. You’re doing everything right: you’ve added some great photos, you’ve been blogging, maybe you’ve even posted a video. It’s taken hours and hours and it’s been hard work. But now what? Without an audience to view it, even a great profile is destined to fail. What you may not know is that there are proven ways on Adoptimist to increase your profile visits, available to you right now. These are not gimmicks but tried and true methods (built right into our system) that will get... Read more…

In this article, we’re going to discuss the importance of Adoptimist profile photos. Adoptimist was conceived and built as a visually-oriented connect service. Because they are the first step toward connecting with an expectant mother, your main photos are the most important images in your profile. Of course you will have many photos in your albums and blogs and they are all important. But, because they are so vital, we are just going to focus on the following two: Our Families photo: aka ‘Elevator Pitch’ photo, as featured on the Our Families... Read more…