RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association published an article written by Hal Kaufman, the founder of My Adoption Advisor. The article is titled “Developing a Strong Family Profile” and RESOLVE published it in their Spring 2010 newsletter, RESOLVE for the journey and beyond.
In the article, Hal covers 3 important tips that will help adopting parents strengthen their adoption profile.
Write From the Heart, Not to an Audience
Be genuine with what you write and do not “target” your message to any particular group. Remember, you may just as easily meet a teenager on your adoption journey as you are to meet a 30 year-old woman with 2 kids.
Show More Than Tell
This tip highlights the importance of telling short stories instead of simply listing facts. Anecdotes are more memorable and more likely to strike a connection with the reader. Many adopting parents write a short, factual statement similar to the first example below. Compare this to the second example, however, and you will see the power that even a one-sentence story can have.
- “Sue likes to cook.”
- “Nothing beats the sweet smell of Sue’s homemade caramel rolls fresh out of the oven.”
Include Attention-Grabbing Photos and Captions
If you were going to read 5, 10, or 15 or more adoption profiles, would you really read every word from front to back or would you develop some kind of shortcut to get through them more quickly? When you read magazines, newspapers, or websites pages, how do you decide which to read in detail?
The truth is that most of us tend to use pictures to make an immediate judgment as to whether we want to commit to reading an article. The same holds true for expectant parents who are reading tons of adoption profiles. They are likely to look at the first few pictures first, then the captions for those pictures, then the other pictures and captions, and then, only if the pictures and captions are making a connection with them, may they commit to reading the text. That’s why pictures and captions are incredibly important.
If you thought these were useful tips, please read the entire article. Better yet, read the entire newsletter. RESOLVE always includes some wonderful, thoughtful articles and this edition is no different. We have all heard the saying that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, right? That is exactly why adopting parents must create an outstanding adoption profile.
Do you need help with your adoption profile?
Consider our online course, The WHAT and HOW of Adoption Profiles. We would also be happy to review your current profile or help you create and design it from scratch.
