Adoption Pass-a-long Facebook Photos!

So as many of you know last weekend I did an Adoption Media Blitz for James and I to find a potential Birthmother!.  All I can say is HUGE success as far as getting the word out and going beyond Viral! I even had a News station locally call me today because a producer in the station saw my page and they want to maybe feature us somehow about our adoption page!  Cuh-RAzy!! (I have to admit I got the idea to do this blitz so to say from my friend Amy's Blog...she posted about it some time back and I knew I had to do this...

Many of you need to read that post on my personal blog so that it can help you in your quest to find your baby!  I know I have been putting somethings in my posts lately that are kinda different but you guys need to be thinking different!  One of the things I did in addition to my post on my blog was to share about it on my Adoption Facebook Page!  This was a key component!  I was also interactive with my Facebook audience and they did a stellar job sharing and liking the posts so that all things would go viral and share thru their feeds!  One of the best ways was with these photo's.  I call them Adoption Pass-a-long photos!  Think about it we all have these cards and yes they are totally great but if you really want people to see your card make a photo version and post it on FACEBOOK!  These have gotten THOUSANDS of views on my Adoption Facebook Page.  How did I make them? www.picmokey.com of course!

 It is important to have a few of these so that it gives your friends a variety!  The more your friends also KNOW you and your story btw the more likely they will share!  People want to HELP people...make it personal!  Facebook is an amazing tool!  Get to know peeps on there, help them, connect them, refer them, and trust me they will help you if you need it! You Reap what you Sow!!!  Be the person God intended you to be and the person others want to KNOW!!!!  (That reminds me...we will talk about your personal Facebook pages on another post...hint: be interesting and Inspiring)

Sometimes, when I communicated thru my page I also attached a photo and sometimes not...And always share your Adoption Page's picture posts on your personal facebook...(I do it a few hours later though so it will show again or maybe in someones feed that didn't see it shared from my page!)

Lastly, This is the photo I changed my Timeline cover to for the ENTIRE weekend.  On both my Adoption Facebook page and Personal Facebook.  I also sent it privately to some close friends and family and asked them to post it as their cover photo as well.

Again, I know we are all on this Road together so I want to make sure all of you know how amazing I think each and everyone of you are!  I know this was a HUGE hit helping us already and may be the key to finding our birthmother and I know it may be the key for you too:)

Til the next post!
Deanna

Adoption Pass Along Cards Launch and Contest!!!!

**Just click above to visit site**

Hey everyone!  Adoptionpassalongcards.com is launching on June 1st ( formerly found at spaces for faces)!  If you haven't gotten your pass a long cards yet well here is your chance! 

They are going to have a contest. Starting June 1, they will be having a week long contest for a chance to win 1000 cards for FREE!

There are 3 ways you can win for just visiting their site:

(1) comment just for coming
(2) comment that you blogged about it 
(3) comment that you posted about them on your Facebook or Twitter

Please note you can only do each thing once but it is still 3 CHANCES to WIN!

**The contest will begin June 1st and run until  June 7th at midnight and on June 8th they will be drawing 2 winners who will each win 1,000 pass long cards.**

This is so awesome...they do a great job...they did ours...and I even had her change the colors for me...

Thank you for your pass along cards!

I have been overwhelmed with responses to my plea for Pass Along Cards! It was wonderful!  Thank you so much for your quick responses. 

I believe I will now have more than enough to set out for display during our open house.  Thank you again!

Send Me Your Pass-Along Cards!

Are you hoping to adopt? Send me your pass along cards! They will be set out for the taking during our Open House celebrating our temple sealing to our son.

 (I wanted to make those available for guests to take since pass along cards are how our baby's birth mom found us!)

Email me at queandbrittany@yahoo.com if you're interested and I will give you my address.  Thanks!
**update** Thank you for your responses!  I now have more than enough cards to set out.  It's wonderful!

Wait vs. Find

By Brittany  
email me at queandbrittany@yahoo.com

When we had been approved as a hopeful adoptive couple, people would ask us about being on "the waiting list." They would ask how long it was going to take for us to be at "the top of the list." The truth is, as you know, adoption through LDSFS didn't work that way. I guess there is a "list," in the sense that you can click here and search through LDSFS profiles of hopeful couples, but because it is the birth mothers who choose who the parents of their child will be, no couple has "priority" over another.

This means that some couples will be chosen with in a matter of weeks or months of being approved, while others might be chosen after years of being approved.

Because of this, as a hopeful adoptive couple, you should not rely only on your online profile to connect you with your birth mother.

In fact, even though our birth mom was going to LDSFS for adoption counseling, she did not use their itsaboutlove.org website to search for prospective parents for Liam. For her situation, she felt she needed a personal recommendation. In fact, she met with several couples before meeting us; couples that were referred to her by people she knew.

This is where the "Wait vs. Find" mentality comes into play.

W - What If?
A - Anxious
I - Insecure
T - Tense

VS

F - Faith
I - Inspiration
N - Networking
D - Divine Intervention

Are you Waiting or are you Finding?

Had we just waited to be connected with a birth mother only by and through our online LDSFS profile, we wouldn't have Liam.

In the world of infant adoption (where only 1% of crisis pregnancies end with an adoption) you have to be the one to get your name out there, and doing so helps the time pass more quickly.

Attend the temple, increase your scripture study and grow closer to the Spirit, start an adoption blog (and update it often), order pass along cards, send out a mass mailer, start a Facebook group, etc. Listen to the Spirit and do anything to build your support network.

You never know who will help you find your child.

(Brie, me, my mom Dianne, Kristina and Danielle)

(Kristina and my mom gave our pass along cards to hairstylist Danielle, who gave them to her best friend, Brie!)

Do you have any other Finding Ideas? 
Post about them on your blog!

Pass Along Cards Work!

By Brittany M.

As a couple hoping to adopt, you should never underestimate the power of a

Pass Along Card.

If you don't know what they are, how they work or how to get pass along cards, check out my friend/neighbor Jill's site SpacesForFaces.com.
She made ours and she can make you some too (for a great price!). 
Obviously, since our son's birth mom found us because of them, I'm a fan of them. :)

Check out our blog for updates on our exciting news!