Hello, I have posted a request for sitters for a trip of mine coming up in less than 3 weeks. I have also been sending invites to sitters close by me (within 2-4 hours) just because I am familiar with places close by in my state, so I pick out cities within a reasonable driving distance. I am wondering if I look for sitters in general, does this website pull people who are from anywhere and want to find a sit in Virginia? As of right now I have sent out 5 requests and it seems folks don’t update their calenders, no one so far I’ve contacted have their dates open. I don’t know how to send invites to people who are interested in coming to VA and live out of state. Thanks in advance for your help!
Edited 6/24/2023 Add my listing URL to my profile here so readers can review and make suggestions, thank you!
HI @ctay122 , there is no way to know if a sitter is looking for a sit in Virginia unless they have stated it on their profile or saved your listing as a favorite. Chances are if a sitter has favorited your listing but not applied, they are not available.
Two suggestions: If you add your listing to your forum profile, forum members will be able to give you helpful feedback. I would also suggest you send invitations to newer sitters in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina. Since so few people update their availability calendar, it’s really only useful for seeing if they are already booked for a sit on your dates. For instructions on adding your listing to your forum profile, Click here
Hello!
As a sitter, I have saved searches for certain states and dates, so when a new sit that matches my saved search occurs, I do get a notification in the app. So, if Sitters are like me and do that, if your sit matches their saved searches (location, dates, pet type) - they should get notified minimally that it’s new and available.
I am a reasonably experienced sitter here on THS, but I am not a great fan of the calendar. It is not the easiest thing to handle, so a lot of petsitters will not bother using it. Additionally, summer is the time with a very high demand for sitters while some can already be “fully booked” as we are at the end of June.
I am having the same problem. I still have no sitter after a month and have asked about 10-12 potential sitters. My profile is apparently linked ( previous suggestions). I’m wondering if it is because sitters would definitely need a car here
The map that comes up for your listing shows Charlottesville (as does the URL) as the place but your written description indicates you are 45 minutes from C’ville. I am a sitter so have no experience as a HO setting up a listing. Someone might look for C’ville and not want to be a 45 minute drive away. However with a cat, being away from your home for several hours may not be an issues for Gizmo, but it would be at least and hour and half away just to get to C’ville. Maybe indicate how long the sitter could be away from the house without having a problem with Gizmo? You live in a beautiful area and no doubt an outdoorsy type would love your location. You might add the distance to Wintergreen and the Blue Ridge Parkway in your description to provide more activities for sitters to investigate.
My problem is I live in Roseland close to Charlottesville and when I did my ad it asked for the closest city so I put Charlottesville and that is what shows up on my profile. I don’t mind a sitter exploring the area, in fact I encourage it. I don’t expect them to stay home with him all day. I can definitley explain that in the desciption. Do you have a suggestion what part of the description I should explain this? Thank you JEHF!
Put it in the Responsibilities section - you indicate Gizmo is to get wet food 3x day - so maybe add that only 2x will work as long as he gets his meds in the morning. State that the sitter does not need to stay there all day. Otherwise the 3x feeding would make a sitter think he can’t be gone more than a few hours.
This area is a wonderful place to explore close to the Blue Ridge Mountains and ever with a big resort like Wintergreen there are no ubers, taxies or busses here!
I am a sitter (and a homeowner) and live in Northern Virginia and I very often love to sit in the Charlottesville area. I think your listing does a good job of explaining all the wonderful things that can be done in your area. I, personally, like to do short sits when they are close to me. I’m going to favorite your listing and hope that you have a short sit in the future when I can come stay with Gizmo.
@ctay122 you might put the bit about being able to explore the area in the intro section of your listing. That way you’ll let prospective sitters who are drawn to the area know right away that they would be able to get out to hike, drive the Parkway, etc.
I finally got a request for a sit but was told they are traveling and will have a dog with them which is impossible for me since that would not work for me at all. I am a renter not an owner and my cat has never been around dogs and I would not subject him to one either especially a strange one.