Hi Alex. Welcome to THS! Charlie looks adorable. You may be listing too early for a short sit like this, but others might disagree. I can see a few things you can do that might help:
Be a little more exact about the walks/potty breaks that Charlie needs. How long can Charlie be left alone? What’s the usual routine? What’s the flexibility with the routine? A sitter’s going to be figuring how long they have if they give her lunch time pee break a little earlier to enjoy an afternoon in Portland.
You need house photos with a bit more light and pop.
You are competing with Portland sits for sure. Many people might not have a car and/or might not want to rent one. Your listing has “public transportation” as an amentiy but no information on this. If I am hoping to go to Portland for a sit, I’d want to how long a walk to the tram and how long a walk to the bus. You will need to make clear for those who don’t know how Beaverton is a separate city but so close that it’s more like a neighborhood.
If you aren’t actually near mass transit, then you need to give more of an idea of what your neighborhood/area is like. Does it feel more rural than suburban? Are there hiking trails walking distance? You might also need to consider whether or not you’d lend the car to the right sitter, if that is even possible.
Just noticed other replies. Some sitters may filter for one week minimums but many would do shorter or longer trips. If you feel you need to lock everything down months in advance, this might not work for you. I sit and host. I rarely travel for more than 2 weeks and sometimes for just a few nights. I rarely post a sit more than 10 weeks in advance often less. This is because I’ve found with longer times more stuff can change and I want to make sure my dates are truly locked in and that the sitter is also ready to make the commitment and less likely to have something suddenly pop up for them.
That does make sense. A flight I had booked for this trip just changed because its far out . This setup might be better suited to lower stakes things closer to home that have more flexibility. But yeah, concrete stuff across country requires a bit more security on my end. Thanks for the thoughts. I may try and tailor my listings a bit different in the future.
Thanks for the detailed response! I have included all those details in the welcome guide. I thought that’s where they go. Is that not usual? Or is that not visible for some reason? A few others have made similar comments about specifics. And they’re all described in detail, actually. But if they’re not showing up when they should, I could see that being an issue.
The Welcome Guide isn’t seen until you have confirmed a sitter and they have accepted . Then you can send it to them .
There are also some tick boxes when you create a listing that don’t appear on the listing .
They can only be seen by THS who use them for data collection !!
Unfortunately it also depends on what the sitter is often looking for. Thanks to THS I have been able to visit an old friend of mine at christmas for the last two years, she doesn’t have the home space and through THS i get some lovely kitty company over the holiday. I am usually able to find a sit in her town around sept/oct for christmas. So I look early for sits especially as I am travelling from abroad and have to try and find an affordable flight.
I hate asking during our first contact how long we can leave their dog. So, in future, I will say that I cannot see their tick boxes so that is why I am asking.
As an aside - I wonder how THS matches the above scenario with me as THS will have no idea how long I want to leave a pet for.
I have no idea what PNW means. I have heard of Portland, Oregon. You are obviously, ( or not? by your jargon) only interested in attracting USA sitters. Fair enough.
As an insight, I have favourited many December sits, though only in UK or mainland Europe, and will be quite blunt, I have done free THS sits the last two Christmasses, but am holding out for a paid sit from another platform this year, but if that doesn’t happen, then I will come back to apply for some of those I have saved, but that won’t be until late October at the earliest.
@RedLassie PNW stands for Pacific Northwest! I am a Brit, & had no idea either so just googled it!
@AlexandCharlie I would suggest you write Pacific Northwest (PNW) out in full for the first reference to it in your listing as there are probably many of us ‘foreigners’ who wouldn’t know!
I just had a look at your listing and found it really friendly and welcoming. As I said in an earlier post 4 days is very short so it’s much more likely someone will apply nearer the time, or if they are local to you. Don’t panic yet! In future if you have a longer trip its certainly good to list dates this far out but for a short sit its more of a last minute thing for many sitters.
As @Silversitters says the Welcome Guide cannot be shared until you have confirmed your sitter so any important or deal breaker points need to be in your listing.
. This setup might be better suited to lower stakes things closer to home that have more flexibility. But yeah, concrete stuff across country requires a bit more security on my end. Thanks for the thoughts. I may try and tailor my listings a bit different in the future.
