For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been searching for home sits on the East Coast of the USA and noticed a real disparity with the number of sits on the West Coast. It reminded me of the news that THS had secured a capital investment from Rockpool Investments to grow its membership, with a particular focus on California. I would be interested to hear more about these plans from @Mathew-CEO.
Also, apart from the THS Affiliate Program and THS Brand Ambassadors, perhaps Mathew or another THS team member could outline ways in which regular members can help promote THS. As a happy user of your services, I have a vested interest in the company’s successful growth – particularly in areas where I hope to sit!
In addition to telling friends and family about THS, I periodically post about it on a Facebook forum for expats in Switzerland in response to requests for recommendations for local pet sitters. I also occasionally post photos from my sits on Instagram and Twitter. This is my small way of promoting THS in Switzerland, France and the USA.
Hi @Mary-Kay thank you for sharing your thoughts and how you proactively promote TrustedHousesitters. Our community members are truly our strongest advocates a large percentage of new members come through referrals, our Refer A Friend program is incredibly successful and the perfect way to introduce friends, family and those we meet along the way to TrustedHousesitters.
Trust is built through recommendations and members sharing their stories is incredibly powerful, we can never have too many of those stories at the moment we are focussing on Christmas and would like to hear from sitters who have had amazing Christmas sit experiences to help inspire others to have a pet sitting holiday time.
I would be really interested in connecting with you directly and chatting about this in greater depth, it will be interesting to see the response to your question as we know our members are spreading the word as they go on their THS journey but they may reveal other ways in which they inspire others to join our global community.
For example we have an Australian couple Peter & Debs, from Perth who have been with THS almost since the beginning, who have just given a presentation about their sitter experiences to a local group, not their first presentation I should add.
Thank you again and our community will be hearing more about our 2022 plans from Mathew in the New Year
I’m involved in a lot of online groups for expats/nomads/location independent people/travelers and I talk about house sitting a lot. I try to give a reasonable outlook about it to help people manage expectations as some people think it’s like booking a hotel. You just go and pick the days you want to go somewhere and magically there is a sit available. I try to spend some time re-educating them. I also have helped people create their profiles and application messages. At this point I’ve earned almost 4 years worth of membership from referrals so I also make good use of the referral program
@CreatureCuddler 4 years free from Referal program !!! That is huge !!
I also talk a lot about THS but only convinced 1 friend to subscribe. Because of the langage it is hard to make French people getting in it !
Once I meet some people while on a dog-sit : they were walking their dog, I told them about dog-sitting, they ask us to come,we say « Yes if you do subscribe to THS » which they did but they didn’t use our RAF code ! But anyway we went twice to their place !
I also share the #trustedhousesitters and #trustedtale on my Instagram and I do follow and link some dog-sitter of THS on their Instagram too. I hope it helps the THS social media to grow.
I can see the language being a challenge. I wonder if any thought has been given to building in translation. It might make it more approachable for non-english speakers.
Yes @CreatureCuddler translation could be fantastic. Though I have noticed few listings in English AND French and some only in French langage. Generally speaking I tend to see more and more listings in France. I don’t know whether it’s only my perception of it or whether it is statistically reel ?
I have checked : there are actually 116 listings in France seeking for dog/car sitter ! That seems a lot to me. I hope they will find some nice sitters and stay members for long years to come !
Because of COVID we have only sit in France these last 2 years and we really enjoy it.
That’s a great idea! I’m sure that the local group really enjoyed Peter and Debs’ presentation. Hopefully, some of the people were inspired to join THS – as HOs, sitters, or both.
While it’s not Christmas, I’m very thankful to have found a sit in London that coincides with American Thanksgiving. During our Zoom call, the HOs kindly agreed that we could take their sweet little dog with us to our daughter’s flat in London, which is where we’re having Thanksgiving dinner.
I’m always promoting THS while on sits and/or personal vacations. I recently had someone approach me to sit who I had met while pet sitting for a friend of mine who didn’t belong to THS. I had told her about the organization while walking my friend’s dog. I declined her sit as the timing wasn’t good but she did become a member of THS but didn’t use my referral code - grrrr. With all my promoting I’ve yet to get a referral but maybe one day
Oh yes. We did an article for a Scottish National paper some years ago. We noticed the few sits advertised and got in touch. It was Angela who organised it.
I also do lots of posts on Facebook mentioning THS and I have to say I do stick up for the site on the many housesitting groups I am in. Some people are under the impression we are doing the house sitting community a disfavour by sitting for free, under valuing the paid sitters work. I point out it’s a free world and we can all do what we like.
As Angela says, word of mouth recommendations, referrals and member stories are the most powerful way to grow our community, and along with the Refer a Friend scheme, as @Mary-Kay mentions, we do also have an affiliate program where those who have websites or larger audiences, can help spread the word and introduce new people to house sitting.
As well as working on the forum, my role with TrustedHousesitters includes expanding our network of affiliate partners through our global AWIN program. So for any of our house sitting bloggers, content creators or influencers, if you would like more information about how to get involved, please send me a direct message and I’ll guide you through the process.
Thanks for increasing awareness about THS in Scotland, @ElsieDownie! We traveled there quite often when our daughter lived in Edinburgh some years ago and we hope to find some sits there in the future.
Your comment about paid sitters reminded me of a recent conversation I had about THS with a close friend who’s a professional butler. After telling him about our first sit and suggesting that it might be something for him, he got very quiet and gave me an odd look. It took me a minute to process his silence before the light bulb went off over my head and I added, “Oh, I guess it’s not that interesting for you since it’s kind of what you do professionally”. He smiled and responded, “Exactly”. He didn’t, however, feel as if his job was being threatened.
A professional butler – now there’s a job I never considered! Just checked and there are training schools. Among the topics covered are Wardrobe management, packing and unpacking and the perfect shoe shine and Power of engaging service, handling sensitive situations and the bath Experience. I wonder if they have a career placement service. I don’t imagine there’s a booming job market out there.
we’re going to spin off into another topic but there are all kinds of positions out there. Watch Downtown Abbey. People do still have personal assistants to help them with all kinds of personal intimate things. Lifestyle of the rich and famous.
It seems to be an interesting but very demanding job. My friend has worked for people on the Forbes list and often spends years with a family, only moving on once conditions change, like when the children go off to university. He has helped plan weddings, vacations that involve private planes, etc. He’s always very, very discrete about his employers but the tidbits he shares, often only after he has left a position, are fascinating.
Oh, one pet related detail that I can share is that he is often responsible for transporting the family’s furry companions from one residence to the next and caring for them while the family is away. That’s why I told him about THS.
Word of mouth recommendations and specialized agencies seem to be the way that many butlers find their positions. Prior to Covid, there was quite a bit of demand for Western trained butlers in China.
I have a friend who worked as deputy head gardener for Prince Charles and he told us about a magazine called The Lady (UK) where all sorts of amazing “in service jobs” were offered. I got quite tempted in the days before we started house sitting
I also have helped people create their profiles and application messages. At this point I’ve earned almost 4 years worth of membership from referrals so I also make good use of the referral program 
!!
But anyway we went twice to their place !
Just checked and there are training schools. Among the topics covered are Wardrobe management, packing and unpacking and the perfect shoe shine and Power of engaging service, handling sensitive situations and the bath Experience. I wonder if they have a career placement service. I don’t imagine there’s a booming job market out there. 