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Marketing Update      

Google Analytics: fresh numbers, sweet results.

A great benefit of Internet marketing is the free online tools that help us do our jobs more effectively and efficiently. One of the best is Google Analytics. This web reporting system gives site managers access to numbers, numbers and more numbers -- all pre-crunched and displayed in easy-to-analyze formats. What do these tell us about OA&FS site performance? Here's a top ten of hot metrics. (All numbers reflect past 30 days unless otherwise noted.)

1. There were 6,464 visits to our site. This is an 11% increase over the previous month and a 68% increase over the same time last year! (See "visits" chart below.)
2. 67% of these visitors were new, 33% returning. New visitors are up 83% over 2012.
3. 2,426 visits were via mobile device. This is a 196% increase compared to last year.
4. Pages on the site were viewed a total of 26,430 times, average time on page was 1:04.
5. Average visit duration is 3:17 and 16% of visitors spend five minutes or more browsing the site. Some context ... five minutes is the goal we've defined for the site within Google Analytics and is a critical measure of audience engagement.  "Goal completion" above 10% is a good thing!
6. The top ten most viewed pages are Home, Waiting Families, More Families, Adoptive Parents, More Families, More Families, Birthparents, Open Adoptees, More Families and ... wait for it ... Services for Birthparents Nationwide!
7. The Home page averaged 109 visitors per day, (3,273 total). Services for Birthparents Nationwide page averaged 17 visitors per day, (489 total).
8.  Our Google Adwords campaigns comprised 26% of total visits, driving 56 visits per day. (See "Visits by Traffic Type" chart below.)
9. The keyword phrases that got the most clicks within Google organic (unpaid) searches are open adoption, adoption, adoption agencies, open adoption agency and adoption websites. 
10. 86% of Facebook visits are new visitors. 

 Outreach News

To educate others about open adoption and services available at our agency, OA&FS staff conduct outreach presentations and free trainings throughout the region year-round. In doing this, they form important relationships that benefit all who receive services from OA&FS. 

Several of our outreach presentations this month were to organizations that serve teen parents. Here are some facts about teen parents in Oregon from the Insights Teen Parent Program that may surprise you:

• 33% of teen parents will experience a second or even third pregnancy while they're still a teen.
• 40% of teen parents have an open case with the Department of Human Services (DHS), which means they are at a high risk of having their parental rights terminated.
• 60% of teen parents are in domestically violent relationships.

We want to make our services available to these teens to provide them with pregnancy options counseling and an alternative to a state adoption.

• On May 22, Eugene Counselors Irie Hoffman, Jan Jamieson and Linda Kostur attended the Lane County Teen Parent Consortia Meeting in Eugene. All agencies interacting with teens were invited to "come to the table" and share about services and needs regarding this special population. It was very informative and a great networking opportunity. We were given the opportunity to provide information about our services and distribute our materials. 
• On June 5 Eugene Counselor Jan Jamieson presented information about OA&FS and all-options counseling to a health class at Lebanon High School.  The intimate group of 12 students (including two self-identified adoptees) spoke about personal experiences related to adoption as well as how they each might feel in the various roles of members of the adoption triad.  Thank you to LHS teacher Leah Rainy for inviting our staff to present to her class! 
• On June 7, Portland Counselor Kate Sturm participated in a Portland Area Teen Parent Consortia where she networked and exchanged information with individuals from over 30 Portland area agencies who serve and provide services to teen parents. The community providers were happy to hear about  OA&FS services for options counseling and adoption planning.
• On June 13, Executive Director Shari Levine forwarded our outreach email to 300 reproductive health agencies throughout Oregon at the request of Marsha Brantley. Marsha is a Reproductive Health Consultant through the Oregon Public Health Division. She has been a long-standing advocate of OA&FS. She was so impressed by our outreach newsletter which highlighted our revised website and materials, she wanted to share it with her mailing list.
• Similarly, Karen Dluhosh from Cardea is forwarding our outreach newsletter to the region 10, Title 10 public health workers. Cardea, which is located in Seattle, provides trainings and organizational development to reproductive health workers.
• Shari Levine was also invited to attend the first statewide Teen Parent Consortium in Salem on June 13. She joined 60 other organization representatives who serve pregnant and parenting teens. Shari provided a brief presentation about our services. The consortium will meet quarterly throughout the year.
• On June 19, Portland Counselor Katie Niemeyer met with three women at Salvation Army White Shield to talk to them about OA&FS' options counseling services and open adoption process. Katie provided White Shield with brochures, which can be presented to women considering their pregnancy options. 

Gatherings 

Attending gatherings is an important way to be better equipped and prepared for adoption.  Plus you get the benefits of developing friendships within the OA&FS community!  We look forward to seeing you.

Portland

We will not be having a gathering at the office in July or August, but will resume in October after the agency's summer picnic on Saturday, September 14 at Woodstock Park in SE Portland!

Eugene

Eugene area groups will resume in October. However, feel free to join our Out of Area Waiting Families Group over the summer, or anytime, to continue to connect with the agency and other waiting families. Come join us for the Eugene Summer Picnic on August 10 from 12-2:00 pm at Bethel Community Park.   

We have no gatherings during the summer months and will resume our monthly meeting in October. We hope to see everybody Saturday, August 17 at Magnuson Park from 11:00 am-2:00 pm with the Reptile Man! 

Out of State/Area Waiting Families Group (Everyone's welcome to participate!)

Topic: Talking to Your Child about Adoption. Have you ever wondered how you will answer your child's tough questions as he or she gets older? Or, how you will bring up difficult topics? Or, when is the right time to share certain pieces of information? Learn to be proactive and confident in encouraging discussion around your child's adoption story. Together we will discuss:

• The importance of talking proactively with your child about his or her story
• Your child's level of understanding throughout the lifespan and the tasks associated with each developmental stage
• Fears surrounding this topic
• Helpful Tools: The Lifestory Book, Books, and Movies
• Handy Tips for Talking
• Using John Gottman's Emotion Coaching Principles when faced with your child's feelings

We'll introduce ourselves at the beginning of the call, then explore and connect as a group after some initial lecture and troubleshooting of particular scenarios here we will work on incorporating and practicing the above agenda items in real life scenarios. Seattle Supervisor Katie Stallman will be facilitating this discussion and looks forward to meeting each of you via phone.

Teleconference Instructions: The OA&FS conference call-in room number is 530-881-1000, use participant code 252531#. Note that this group will continue throughout the summer. Watch for topics in the Bulletin!

Community Gatherings

Check out the following community events and resources organized by other OA&FS adoptive parents in your area:

Portland

Portland Adoptive Families group will hold a potluck. Waiting and adoptive families are welcome to come and socialize!

When: Tuesday, July 16, 6:30 pm 

Where: Dave and Molly Hayden's house, 3955 N Montana Avenue

RSVP: molly@opaque.net or 503-539-4805. 

Announcements

Congratulations:   

• What a difference 24 hours makes. On May 7, Jenny Perry of Eugene, Oregon, was explaining the waiting process to a coworker and said "we could get the call in a couple of years or we could get it today!" Those words became immortalized when later that afternoon she and her husband Sam received "the call" from an unexpected source, their adoption attorney. A birthmother in Phoenix, Arizona picked them to parent the baby boy she delivered three days earlier. They hopped on the first flight they could catch and later that evening, met their son Charles Samuel Perry for the first time. They spent one night at the hospital before discharging to a hotel to await ICPC approval. They spent the next week taking full advantage of their displacement by getting to know and bonding with the newest member of the Perry family. Charlie's birthmother isn't ready to engage in an open adoption at this point but the Perry's are hopeful she will have a change of heart. They plan to send her a letter through her attorney in order express the immense gratitude they have for her decision and their desire to have her involved if she ever becomes comfortable with the idea of having an open adoption relationship.  
• Joe Hessney and Rebecca Green welcomed their baby boy, John Ezra Hessney-Green, into their home on June 13. Joe has loved his decision to go into a career in teaching, but never more so than when a former student who was in options counseling with OA&FS saw Joe and Rebecca's profile on the website and, remembering her respect for her former teacher, asked to receive their full profile and soon chose to meet with them. Having a previous positive connection helped to build a foundation for a healthy relationship, and over the span of three weeks, they developed a strong relationship while transitioning John to Joe and Rebecca's care. John was 8 ½ weeks old at the time of placement, and is now thriving in his new home. Joe and Rebecca are loving new parenthood, and looking forward to continuing to build their relationship with John's birthfamily.
• On June 20 Kimberley and Kris of Roseburg, Oregon, were shocked when they got the call that their daughter's birthmother Gabriella was in labor eight days early. Unfortunately they were in California at a family event at the time but Kimberley caught the next flight out and arrived at the hospital shortly after the birth of their daughter Kwinn Marie. Kris along with their other two children Kolton and Kaprece, drove through the night and met his newborn daughter in the early morning hours of the 21st. Kwinn and Gabriella were discharged later that same day and Gabriella decided she wanted to have the placement the following day so she could spend a night with Kwinn outside of the hospital. The next day, everyone gathered at Gabriella's grandmother's home to celebrate the placement of this precious baby into Kimberley and Kris' care. Kimberley, Kris and Gabriella (and their families) had been spending time together regularly leading up to Kwinn's birth and have already had a visit since the placement. They all look very much forward to more time together and growing in their open adoption relationship.

Adoption Related Events

Thursday July 18, 6-8:00 pm

Q Center, 4115 N Mississippi Ave., Portland

Contact: info@adoptionmosaic.org  

Path to Parenthood Though Open Adoption.

This work group provides a place for learning and support with your process of pursuing open adoption. 

Contact: Michele Greco, Mindful Somatic Coaching, michele@michelegreco.com, 503-880-4868.

Adoption Learning Partners Live Webinar: Can We Talk? When Kids Start Asking About Adoption

Thursday, July 18, 5 pm PST

Contact: info@adoptionlearningpartners.org