Hello everyone, new member here from The high Peak derbyshire district UK.
I am a pet parent of 8 pets! 3 cats, 4 rabbits and 1 leopard gecko.
Looking for a sitter beginning of december( flexible dates). Needing some tips on my post, i have invited loads of people to sit but they either can’t do the dates or are not even in the UK at the moment. Only had 1 applicant so far ( inexperienced).
1 Like
Hi @Kimbolina
Welcome to the TrustedHouseSitters community! I see you don’t have your listing linked to your forum profile.
Here’s How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile
Adding this link to your forum profile will enable forum members to quickly access your listing and provide feedback. We have lots of experienced pet parents and sitters on the forum who can take a look at your profile and see if there is any room for improvement.
2 Likes
I found your listing. The first thing I recommend is getting better photos. The current ones aren’t selling your house. They are small, show a weird corner of a room sometimes, and there aren’t enough of the important ones. Sitters want to see bright photos of their bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and living areas, plus a garden if that’s relevant. You list that the house is “family-friendly”, so post pics of all the bedrooms.
The primary photo needs to grab attention. A cute one of the animals might be better.
The current animal photos are blurry and I had to zoom on some to see what they were. One or two photos of each animal is enough.
I like some photos of local tourist attractions and/or scenery.
Change the headline. Right now. It doesn’t say anything that we don’t know from the thumbnail. We know you need a sitter (everyone does), we can see the dates and animals, etc. …Use the first few words to grab attention, e.g “Famiy friendly, near [attraction/town]…”
Your listing could explain how far you are (miles/km) from shopping, public transport, restaurants, etc.
I would look at lots of other HO listings so you get an idea of what grabs your attention, and apply it to your listing
Good luck!
7 Likes
If you link your listing here you are bound to get a lot of helpful advice. We personally don’t do sits with that many animals all the time, but we would love to learn how to handle new types of pets (there aren’t many reptile sits e.g. and even rabbits are rare). You write that your 1 applicant is inexperienced which can mean a lot of different things, but I would at least be open to the possibility of having a sitter e.g. who know about cats and rabbits but has no idea about reptiles. PS: There is just 1 reptile sit on THS right now so that opportunity really is rare!
2 Likes
Just to clarify: reptile sits aren’t that rare. It’s just that filter shows sits with only reptiles. Just a quick search in my area (Dallas), and there are at least 3 sits with reptiles over the next month. Texas is known for unusual pets, of course. =)
And yeah, they really need to give more search options. It’d be nice (and more intuitive?) to be able to also search for any sits with reptiles.
4 Likes
@Kimbolina ‘inexperienced’ is not necessarily negative. Everyone has to start somewhere. If the sitter is a kind, caring person and willing to learn the ropes they might turn out to be great sitters for you! When my husband and I started housesitting 4 years ago I had absolutely no experience with any pets at all! But I wanted to have more contact with animals and put my pet loving into action! 57 Sits later and we have sat for so many gorgeous animals- mainly dogs and cats ofcourse but also lots of other animals too including emus, lots of chickens and a herd of deer! One of our favourite sits over the summer was with two delightful dogs, 4 gorgeous rabbits, 3 playful guinea pigs and a hamster! I absolutely loved this menagerie and the family were amazing too- so welcoming. I learned a lot on that sit and my heart was really nourished by caring for all these cuddly creatures! 
2 Likes
I agree with @Lokstar. My first sitter had never cared for chickens or sheep but she wanted to learn and did a great job with the livestock plus our two cats. She even had to watch for a bobcat who was stalking the premises! Everyone starts somewhere, and most sitters work very hard to make a good impression. I’d have a conversation with someone and get a feel for them and their general level of responsibility before writing them off.
Also, as mentioned, you’ll want to make your listing super attractive or sitters might think you’re an inexperienced HO and be nervous about applying. It goes both ways! 
(please forgive me if that sounds snarky, just trying to make a point and mean no harm). Good luck, I hope you find a great match.