First time ad - any helpful advice?

Hi everyone. This is my first time using TH, and placed an ad a few weeks ago for housesitters to look after home and 2 x dogs.

Have had about 8 people favourite my ad so far, but nobody applying for it as yet. Have reached out to one couple with an invitation but no reply.

Just wondering if you could have a look at my ad, see if I can do anything to improve what I’ve done? Not 100% sure if I’ve added enough information/photos/comments. Any helpful advice and constructive criticism will be most welcome. Just want to make sure my ad says enough and seems attractive for sitters.

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

Hi there,
I took a look at your listing for you, and it reads very well and looks great! The only 3 things I could suggest to improve are your title, introduction, & a bit about the area; here’s some tips:

1: Your title doesn’t need to state ‘house/pet sitter.’ sitters on THS are already sitters and know what they’re here for, so instead use this space to write a captivating title that grabs attention, such as ‘New Years in Benalla - wine, bushwalking & more!’

2: Your introduction is quite autobiographical and could use more statements that tells a sitter straight away what they would be gaining from this sit and why they should sit for you.

3: Your sit is advertised as accessible via public transport, but how would a sitter get to Benalla if they don’t have a car? Regional coaches in Australia are crazy expensive and most (international) sitters won’t know where Benalla is, how to get there or what’s in this area of Australia to see. I’d advertise more strongly from a tourist point of view why somebody should visit this area, especially at New Years, and come all that way. If you can offer to collect a sitter from a halfway point somewhere if they don’t have a car, that might be a big help! Knowing Australia, you really do need a car to access any wineries, bushwalk areas & nature hikes, so is not having a car on this sit really ideal?

As for invites, they rarely work out and have a very low response rate. Don’t pay any attention to a sitter’s calendar - the calendar is essentially non functional for a sitter (we can’t input availability besides other THS sits already confirmed), and many sitters aren’t interested in recieving unsolicited invites and will just archive them. You could try reaching out to those that have favoured your listing, but generally having a strong listing that gains applicants is the way to go. Here’s a blog that might help:

Hope that helps!.

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Lovely photos, cute dogs, and your dates are good, some put them to start on the 31st Dec or end on the 1st Jan, but you haven’t done that so that’s great!

Remove the word Californian from the bungalow bit, it may add slight confusion about your location.

The wording of you ad is good too, I would add the minimum dog walk you want to take place each day, but it’s great you seem flexible in the way you have worded it, so just tweak it for your own benefit, so you know they will definitely get walked!

Also, mention the distance/minutes to the nearest food shop etc.

I can understand you saying no visitors with it being New Year (ie party-time for some), but after you fill this sit, perhaps remove that line and play it by ear based on who you have apply, but don’t say you’re open to guests in your profile, just say nothing, because it puts a negative in someones mind about you, even though they may not have any intention to have guests visit (we’ve been sitting for 1.5yrs full time and haven’t had a single guest at any property as yet, we’d rather meet up with people in a cafe or restaurant), it’s just with it being a negative line, when you have a great profile overall, very positive, light hearted wording, so there’s no need to put a negative in. If someone applies and asks, you can simply say no you’d prefer not to have guests at that point, that’s totally fine, it’s your place, your rules.

With your 8 favourites - Sitters can’t reach out to owners unless they apply for dates, and if they are already booked for New Year, they can’t reach out to you at all. Whereas owners CAN reach out to sitters. So the people who favourite’d may not be able to reach out to you, so I would pop them a message saying you had noticed they favourited your place, and ask if they are interested, or invite them to sit, but you have 8 so I’d just message them all at this stage, given you are new, rather than inviting them and see what people say when they respond. That way they can then respond to you, because it may well be that one of those sitters may suit you perfectly for your future sit dates.

But it’s a lovely profile and great pics. Good luck

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Great advice already given, and I agree that your listing overall looks good.

In the introduction I as a sitter am more interested in an introduction to the sit and why I should want it, and not so much in the hosts. I do believe the prompts of THS encourage telling about oneself, and it is relevant, but I would put it further down and start the text with why a sitter should continue reading.

Please tell me how to get to your home. If I try to search, it seems Benalla has an airport only for sport/ private flights (?) and that public transport would be for instance flight to Melbourne and then train 2 hours-ish? Or other - help the sitter understand how to get to you. If you can pick up at station it could be mentioned.

Is the location walkable and/ or can I get around without a car? That would be great to mention as it widens pool of sitters.

The hindrance is probably a highly competitive holiday, the listing is lovely.

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@Bunditta you have a really great listing and two adorable dogs. Do add exactly how long their walks are. Also, where it includes New Years Eve, do either/both pups react to noise if Benalla has fireworks? Do you take them in the car for outings and would you consider allowing sitters use of your car for this purpose or for an emergency visit to the vet?

I live in central Victoria and know Benalla, having driven through it many times, often stopping for lunch. I would have been tempted to apply but am already confirmed for my Christmas/New Year sit.

As it is displaying Low Applications, what I suggest you do is remove your dates for 5 minutes then re-post them. This will make your listing New again which is what you want. And you can do this as often as you want to, to keep it visible to sitters. You could even change your first photo to the one of Mia and Vinnie together on the rug but make sure it is in landscape form as portrait photos sometimes have the top missing. With the changes you have made from the advice offered, fingers crossed you will attract some lovely sitters.

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All great ideas, thanks for your help :slight_smile:

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These ideas are all great, and have made a few changes based on your thoughts. Thanks heaps :slight_smile:

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Excellent, thanks for your input :slight_smile:

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