BenSpark
Today I am joined by AmyAdoptee. She is one of the members of the I’m Not A Famous Blogger Crew. So Amy, please tell the readers about yourself.
AmyAdoptee
I am known on the internet as Amyadoptee. I am an adoptee rights blogger. I began my blog three years ago as a way to express my thoughts and feelings concerning my search through the encouragement of a long time friend. It became about my search, my lack of reunion, and my journey to understanding it all. It has morphed into something bigger. I have become an stopping place for adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parents. I express my opinion on not just things adoption but issues skirting adoption. That includes surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, abortion, and many other issues. I usually do an expose on adoption agencies as well. This helps adoptive parents and birth parents avoid the pitfalls that are inherent with the secrecy in adoption. It is becoming more and more obvious that we as an adoption community some truth and justice in adoption. There are so many myths, deceptions, and just plain corruption in adoption that changes are desperately needed. That is now my purpose along with helping adoptees get access to their original birth certificates.
BenSpark
I’m so unfamiliar with the topic that you write about but I can sense the amazing passion you have. I want to hear more, please tell us about your blogs
AmyAdoptee
I have four blogs with equivalents on Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook. Adoption and Its Triad is my main one. I write one that is adoption agency specific. I was placed through the Suemma Coleman Home for Unwed Mothers in 1965. The blog is called Coleman Moms and Babes. I have one that is specific to the state of Indiana which is called Indiana Open – Restoring OBC Access to Adoptees and their families. I have another one that is specific to the state of Texas which is called Texans for Adult Adoptees OBC Access.
BenSpark
Your blogs have a very specific subject. Sometimes that can be hard to monetize. Do you monetize your blog? What are some companies besides IZEA that you work with?
AmyAdoptee
I did monetize my Coleman Moms and Babes and my Adoption and Its Triad blogs. I have removed the Indiana Open one. I do not work with any other companies other than IZEA. The reason why I chose them is that they are the best in the Industry. They are also a very legitimate company. I like Social Spark because they give you the tools to make your blog ads look professional. I believe that yes there should be disclosure on the blog. It is one thing that I do not mind being on my blogs. My only complaint about Social Spark is the one time that I had to reject my own blog post. I could not get the html code to work properly because my blog programming always adds an amp phrase in the code. The system at Social Spark kept rejecting it because of it. It was the only time that this particular situation had happened.
BenSpark
So you are using only SocialSpark and you like how they are a very ethical and legitimate company. Because they are your only supplier of advertisers what Advertisers do you want to see on SocialSpark?
AmyAdoptee
As far as advertisers go, I would like to see more adoptee friendly advertisers. Please note that I did not say adoption friendly. It is not that I am against adoption per se. I am against the myths behind adoption. I would like to see more advertisers that are family oriented because many of my readers are peoples in the process of creating families, starting families, and kid oriented stuff. I am a mother who home schools her children. I know personally that I have used many of the products that I have written for. Vista Print is one of those.
BenSpark
What is the Ultimate Goal for a blogger, in your opinion?
AmyAdoptee
The ultimate goal of a blogger is to inform others. I use all of my blogs to keep people informed of what is going on in a particular state or what adoption agency is a bad one. I use my blog as a way to inform people of another side of the coin.
BenSpark
If you could spend one year blogging about a particular thing what would it be and why? How would you keep it fresh?
AmyAdoptee
Since my blog posts are already subject specific, I use news articles to keep me up to date with the going ons with anything adoption. I am usually specific to one area, domestic infant adoption. As adoptee blogger, I show people how adoptees feel.
BenSpark
Let’s talk about some blogging particulars. Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have?
AmyAdoptee
I would recommend that every blogger get a site meter or stat counter on their blog. That way you can discover how people link to you or find you. I own the Indiana adoptee key words. When a person types in those key words they find me.
BenSpark
You’re hungry and at a pizza place, tell me what is your favorite pizza topping?
AmyAdoptee
Pepperoni is my favorite topping for pizza.
BenSpark
What is amazing about you?
AmyAdoptee
What is good about me? I help adoptees and birth parents find each other. I help adoptees fight for their rights. I show compassion to all sides of the adoption plane.
BenSpark
Pirates or Ninjas?
AmyAdoptee
I prefer pirates to ninjas although both would play an equal role in my life.
BenSpark
Outside of blogging what are your other interests?
AmyAdoptee
My interests outside of blogging include my husband, his western leather craft, my daughters, my family, reading, crochet, Swedish weave, horseback riding, watching great crime shows such as NCIS, CSI, Bones, Saving Grace, and Leverage.
BenSpark
I am a huge fan of Leverage and Bones. CSI got stale for me but the other two are fresh and fun. Do you read TV Squad, that is one of my favorite blogs. What are your favorite blogs?
AmyAdoptee
My favorite blogs are:
- http://musing-mother.blogspot.com
- http://ungratefullittlebastard.blogspot.com
- http://addiepray.wordpress.com
- http://antiadoption.wordpress.com
BenSpark
Thank you Amy for taking the time to talk with me on the I’m Not A Famous Blogger IZEA Insider Crew Blog. I hope you had as much fun as I did. And I really appreciated that you made a sign like I asked, that is awesome! I encourage everyone to visit Amy’s blogs as well as her SocialSpark profile at http://socialspark.com/bloggers/amyadoptee.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Really nice interview, nice to read about you AmyAdoptee, My wife was adopted and she went through the 2 year search to find her birth mom, which happened though it didnt turn out as well as hoped. Keep up the great Interviews BenSpark.
How do you like the revamped look of the blog? I'm working on improving it more. I am having trouble with the tabs, in the theme the tabs should be above the image yet they dropped for no reason. I've got to check the CSS.
I like the theme a lot better, though the page buttons clobber the logo in top center. I think the idea behind the site and what you are doing is fantastic, and I will be reading everyone's interviews.
That is the exact issue I am having, they are not supposed to be like that. I need to fix them. I got too frustrated last night so I had to put it aside for a while. I am loving all the interviews, people have been so awesome with their responses. I'm sending out a ton more invites today. Slow going but worth it as I do each individually.