Happy Holidays, everyone! It’s that time of year again and I’m sure many of you are thinking about how you can integrate some pictures, video clips or even text about your holiday traditions into your adoption profile. Today, we’ll give you four tips on how to integrate the season into your profile without going for a full-on, Santa-themed profile!

Tip 1: If you’re using photos from the Holidays, make sure that you’re in them! Often times, people like to take photos of their decorations or of a lighting display that they visit. Instead, consider getting a picture of yourself or your partner decorating the tree or putting up lights. Maybe snap a shot of you two drinking Hot Chocolate at the lighting display. Don’t try to show the audience what you see, instead give them a peek into your life.

Tip 2: When writing about your traditions, don’t just focus on one holiday. We understand that ’tis the season, but don’t just focus on what your family does during these couple of weeks in December. Talk about Thanksgiving, talk about choosing a tree right after your Turkey Dinner. Talk about New Years and what special plans you share with friends and family. It’s also important to talk about what traditions you hope to have in the future. What types of holiday traditions do you want to share with a child?

Tip 3: If you’re filming a video during the holidays, please don’t shoot it all in front of the tree. This video needs to be timeless. Think about it – how many people match within two months of creating an adoption profile? Not many. This means that if you’re still waiting in Spring, that video with Santa Hats and Christmas music in the background is going to be very irrelevant. Instead, just use footage from the holidays as b-roll to accent your talk about traditions.

Tip 4: Whenever there are multiple holidays in the span of six weeks, it’s the perfect time to journal and blog. This is a great opportunity to take photos with family and talk about certain fun things you do this time of year (go to the Nutcracker, go Christmas shopping in the city, enjoy an evening of ice skating, etc). So don’t waste this opportunity! Journal and blog about them. Birth mom’s love to see you engaged with your adoption profile – it shows you truly care.

We hope these tips have helped you with some ideas for you adoption profile this holiday season. The most important thing to remember is: No one wants to see a profile FULL of holiday themed content. Use it wisely and sparingly!