I get that question all the time. I wish I knew for sure. I just look for feedback from adoption attorneys, friends and my clients as to where the emails and phone calls are coming from. A few select states don't allow print ads or you wouldn't advertise there because they are agency states. Three quarters of the states are good for advertising. Advertise where it makes sense for you. How far are you willing to travel? Do you have family and friends in certain states so you can stay with them and wait out ICPC?
I always say you should start within driving range and work your way further away if you must. Look at the demographics before you place ads. You want areas where the race reflects the child you hope to adopt and that the population is of child bearing age. Ads in retirement communities in Arizona will do you no good. Lots of areas are hurting from the poor economy, some more than others. You may want to factor that in. Look at the circulation of the paper in comparison to the price of an ad. A one week ad for a 20,000 circulation paper at $100 is not a great deal. A one week ad in a paper with a circulation of 300,000 for $100 is a good deal. Use your advertising dollars wisely. It comes down to putting out lots of ads, doing your research and hoping your ad is in the right place at the right time.
Right now, my clients are getting calls and emails from lots of different places. I can't even narrow down a trend. Don't be discouraged when days or weeks go by without a contact. It happened to me. I think I went three weeks without a call-probably $1,000 of advertising money spent-without a call. Then I got a call-it was "the call". It would be my last call. It resulted in the adoption of my daughter three weeks and two days after that last call.
When you you least expect it, you get "the call"!
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