Can any HO confirm they actually read the potential sitters profile before inviting them to a sit.?
Continually getting offers which clearly do not match our profile.
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We’re sitters, and we definitely get pet owners reading our profile because they mention details of our profile when they message us, just in the same we that we include details of their profile. I think it just depends.
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I do because I certainly wouldn’t like sitters turning up with a handful of children….
….not that I don’t like them you understand…just not in my home. Sorry.
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Usually HOs post their listing and wait for sitters to apply, and not the other way around.
In my experience, the HOs that send invitations to sitters are either new and a bit confused about how it works, or their listing isn’t very attractive in some way (labour involved, location). So no, they probably haven’t read your profile, or they’re just really desperate.
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Mixed bag. Some clearly invite folks en masse, probably because they have few applicants.
By contrast, some have clearly read reviews and profiles. Like I was offered a three-month cat sit in a waterfront condo in Hawaii. That host specifically mentioned why they invited me. And with a sit like that, I’m sure they would’ve had plenty of applicants.
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The copy and paste requests. So impersonal.
Some do, some don’t @Hallt64. You’re mainly getting sitter responses here though where you’ve posted it on the Sitter category and not the Owner one.
Actually, not even copy and paste, I get invites frequently with no messages at all.
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I don’t mind copy and paste, because I figure the hosts are playing the odds and realistically they’re not going to write individual msgs if so. I reply to those, just to decline. But I ignore ones without any msg.
In the instances where I reach out to HS, I definitely read their profiles. I find overall this is not the best way to find HS, so I don’t do it often if at all though.
Before reaching out to people cold turkey though, I’d reach out to anyone that has favourites our listing first and go off of that as they already have a desire to sit for our location and pet.
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Today, I received a personalized invitation for an overnight local sit. As it happens, I can’t make it, but I also can’t see why I’d want to drive a couple of hours to do an overnight sit for a cat and dog. For something like that, I’d just get a hotel room with no responsibilities, on my own timeline.
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Yes, I too get invites with absolutely no message - not one word. I don’t even look at them, just delete.
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As a host and cherished pet owner I read the entire profile of someone who is coming to sit at my home. I make a list of questions to ask on the zoom or phone call as well. As a result I have had a great experience with the pet sitters who have cared for my pets and property. So far 8 different sitters. Thank you THS for being a great platform to mutually help out hosts and sitters !
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I’m a sitter, asking a question. I believe its the correct place for that
If they can’t even be bothered to address us by name, then i always decline. I do always reply with a valid and polite reason though
Am fascinated by the invite thing. We get very, very few. We have 36 5 star 
reviews that are gleaming on all angles and we’ve maybe had four invites ever in 3 years. One was from the UK (where we say we don’t sit), two were from Ozzie (where we also say that we don’t sit) and can’t recall the last one. I’m not complaining, just interested that others get loads. Do you think it’s location based? (We’re Turkey so it’s a bit obscure) #tellmemoreplease
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Without exaggeration, in only a year of membership, we must have had around 50 invites,
all of which we declined, for varying reasons including circumstances at the time etc, not just impolite requests.
I think location is a big part, we are UK based and I’m sure there are more sits than Turkey.
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I have had people inviting me without fully reading my whole profile. I think they see my pics and 5 star reviews and just go off that. I just politely point out what they missed. (I see it as similar to the email fact I’ve discovered: If you ask questions in an email, only one question will be answered, so only stick to one question per email… or NUMBER your questions! 
)
I notice some sitters in the comments to this thread ignore HO invites that have no message. That seems logical. And when I started, I had the same rule. BUT… I was also trying to build up my reviews, and one invite just said Please look at our listing.
I did, and agreed to sit… Turns out this family are now my best clients! They are lovely. And now knowing the HOs well, her initial invite does not seem cold or rude at all. That’s just how she is. Very busy and pragmatic, but lovely. If I had stuck to my rule of ignoring no message invites (or very brief messages) I would have seriously missed out!
So I always still look at the listing just in case they look suitable.
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I usually get unsolicited invites for the U.S., where I live. Some are local, but I’ve gotten ones on the West Coast or Hawaii, even though I’m on the East Coast and it takes a six-hour flight or longer.
Hosts typically look for signals of reliability, relevance and such. I likely get unsolicited invites, because my profile makes clear that I’m an older woman who sits solo and telecommutes to a stable job. I’ve also owned homes for decades and have my own rescue dog, who’s required a lot of patience and love over years, because he’s damaged.
I started getting invites before I even did my first sit, and I had no references or reviews at the time. I’ve since gotten a bunch of reviews, all strong, and get unsolicited invitations to sit via Nomador as well — mostly sits in France, but I don’t want to sit there.
Not sure the job thing is a factor @Maggie8K as am also a digital nomad & in the plus 50 bracket with rescue dog “points” so the appeal as a prime sitter is all there. Our insta and website are both called reliablesitter so unlikely we don’t meet that category 
My layman’s guess is the location thing influences the algorithms and Turkey is not the USA or UK so we don’t ping as much 
#butamnotatech