Hello,
I am looking for feedback from sitters on my profile. I live in a midsize city that would not be considered a tourist destination, although it is a nice city. I would really appreciate if anyone has tips on how I could make our sit more appealing in our profile! Many thanks in advance!
Listing added to forum profile
Your home is gorgeous and the kitties are really cute!
The last line of your entire listing was the line I was looking for: âWe have cleaners who come weekly.â
You might want to put that in the introduction and mention which DAY that they come. You arrive home on a Monday and then a Saturday, according to your dates.
Your home is so big and fancy, that the cleaning would be daunting for me! If you continue to have any trouble finding someone, you could include a car. I bet you would get someone to apply if you included a car.
As it gets closer to Thanksgiving, I would imagine that you will get someone for those dates who is visiting family nearby for the holiday.
Your sit looks lovely, it looks great, your wording is good, but there are two things that could be better.
Your main image is the one of the sofa/settee, but you need to put your best photo as your main one, in your case it would be best with either the front exterior of your home, or your decked yard area.
Also,
Thereâs no need to put âwith all amenities in Greensboro NC, USAâ in the title, you are wasting valuable space. We can already see where you are, and we EXPECT amenities at every single sit we do. Also, amenities means different things to different people. Donât try to fill every character space there is in the title as we canât visually read it all anyway, make it shorter and attractive âFabulous Home with 2 Chill Catsâ or chilled out cats, or something that different nationalities understand the wording of.
Hope that helps
Iâm based in DC and Chapel Hill, NC and have âfavoritedâ your sit for the future - Iâm already sitting in Texas for both of your current listings. Iâve driven through Greensboro on my way to several sits in central and western NC.
Maybe add a picture of the front of the house - it looks like both pics are of the rear?
Iâll echo prior comment about maybe offering use of your car - seems like both of these trips are overseas - Iâve used HOsâ cars on many sits - coming in the day before, taking the HO to the airport and then returning the car to the airport for my departure and their return.
Thanks so much. I agree that I need to address the âcleaningâ issueâŠI have a very clean home, really all my expectation of a sitter is to treat it well, and clean up behind themselves, not to do any âextraâ cleaning. I will move the info about the cleaner up. I realize for anyone flying to the sit, that transportation is an issue. I am not willing to let anyone use my car. I am not sure if it is allowed, and I donât think itâs something I want to put in my profile (which I realize is no help getting someone to apply!) but I am a retired Flight Attendant and have buddy passes which I would be willing to let someone use (it would have to be a destination AA flies. It would give them their airfare for about 10% of full fare coach, which would offset the cost of renting a car.)
Hi, thanks, glad you saved me, we travel quite a bit, so will certainly have more sits coming up. I had a photo of the front of the house and my daughter talked me into taking it down for security reasons, but Iâll put it back up. I am just not comfortable letting someone use my car, I had someone run a red light last year and totaled my car, it was a nightmare. In Greensboro, running red lights is the norm, not the exception! Thanks again for the input!
Welcome!
In the intro you write quite a bit about yourselves, as I understand you are asked to do when you fill in your profile.
I would suggest you slim that down, and instead use the space for some reasons why a sitter should choose this sit.
What is there to do?
Is use of car necessary? Are there any public transport?
Is anything walkable of activities or shops/ cafes? Is grocery-shopping far, or can it be delivered?
I would write how long the pets can be alone. Sitters ofte. would like to see photos of their bed/ bathroom/ kitchen and size of bed.
If the cleaner can do end cleaning, I would say it specifically. «We would like you to tidy up after yourselves (and take the waste out??). Or cleaner will do the end cleaning.»
I think your home, pets and possibilities for a nice stay look great. Just some tweaking to make it more obvious.
Iâd drive to your sit so Iâll keep an eye out for future listings.
That is a fantastic idea! Get the flight for less and Sitter can pay for a car rental instead.
Are you near any colleges or universities? I could see a parent or other relative using the Sit to visit a student.
@Travelpro Your home will sell itself to those drawn to hi-end homes, and you have covered that well. I suggest you create shorter paragraphs of similar content, for ease of reading. You may have cut and paste your content in with spacing, but unfortunately TrustedHousesitters removes that spacing when not created directly on the site.
As a sitter who would be flying to your home, and would not rent a vehicle as Iâm a homebody and it would be a waste of money, I canât get a sense of whether you are anywhere near a grocery store, drug store, or restaurant. I donât recall reading whether you are in the city itself, or the outskirts, or rural. If you add this information in, please show it in distance, rather than âa 10-minute walkâ, as thatâs subjective.
I support your reasoning for not wanting to provide a car as the downside of what can happen I think far outweighs the benefits of attracting the right people to your home. I would also be hesitant to offer the discounted flight, again because of attracting the wrong type of sitter. However, there are many ways of thoroughly vetting a sitter and so, if so many other things sound like a fit when video chatting, then make that offer, if you think itâs appropriate.
For your October dates I see you have two applicants. If any are not a good fit, decline them promptly. You donât have to offer a detailed explanation. If one or more are possibilities, follow up promptly with your video call and make some decisions after those calls. The more active and prompt you are in dealing with applicants, the better chance of reserving someone whoâs a good fit.
Hi, thanks so much for your feedback! I will be more specific about distance, (there is nothing I would consider close enough to walk to, (I just googled the closest grocery store, CVS, restaurants all in one center, 1.7 miles.) I would not really consider that âwalkableâ, yet Iâll go on vacation and walk 10-15 miles in a day!
I go back and forth on giving more info, and giving lessâŠ.i guess we donât really see our post the way someone else visiting it does, so thatâs an issue.
I think you are spot on about how to handle the flights, I do think it would be a mistake to put it in the profile, much better saved as a perk once a connection has been established.
Again, thanks for the feedback. Rebecca
From my POV as a sitter, I skip all listings that lack key info, such as distance to groceries, etc. Not only do sitters need such info, I figure the host is focusing only on their needs, which is a red flag.
And walking 1.7 miles to shop for groceries and other supplies strikes me as too far, especially since carrying a bunch is a pain. Thatâs not at all the same as walking while sightseeing, IMO.
@Travelpro your listing is beautiful as is your home and kitties, but you know that.
I have done many âhigh end sitsâ in NC with and without use of car.
We need to remember (or investigate) that food and groceries are so accessible now with various delivery services. Many have 30 day free trials, very low if any fees.
Greensboro is beautiful.
Personally, details can be discussed during initial and subsequent conversations. It would be impossible to cater to everyoneâs individual preferences.
This is your home and your animals and in my opinion, your absolute musts come first.
Best wishes
Hey there, I took a look at your listing for you, and overall it appears welcoming & friendly. I would change your title to something more interesting & specific that tells a sitter what is on offer straight away. For example, âExplore Greensboro; history, culture & more with 2 chilled cats!â
Intro & home & location section seem great, just break up the home & location section with paragraphs for easier reading.
Your responsibilities section, however, is where you lost me. It tells a long-winded story that, although is a heart-felt story, is irrelevant to a sitterâs responsibilities. Sitters simply need to know what they are expected to do for the sit - telling the catâs adoption story can be done in a video call instead, as this detracts from understanding what the responsibilities are, and is a long wall of irrelevant text that is difficult to wade through. Simply list in clear, succinct bullet points what the key info & responsibilities are. For example:
My home:
My cats:
My cats are rescues, aged (what) and are playful and cuddly. They require:
The end.
Make sure you always break up text into paragraphs & bullet points - long blocks of text wonât serve you. Have a look at other listings to understand what their responsibilities section looks like.
You might also want to read this blog to help guide you. Hope that helps! 
The challenge for a host struggling to get applications is whatâs keeping sitters from applying, so hosts can share whatever they like, but then still be stuck with that problem.
Personally, I almost always order groceries and meals, but I figure many sitters donât, so a host with low applications would want to consider that if they want to widen their applicant pools. And yes, itâs possible for anyone to research once theyâve applied and get an address, but it can be limiting or misleading to search without an address. And when sitters are skimming for sits among so many, itâs not realistic for hosts to imagine that sitters would necessarily invest time in doing that.
Every bit of missing info essentially subtracts applicants, which is why so many hosts struggle with low applications.
Yes, all sitters and hosts have varying priorities, but access to food is one shared by many as a basic. For a host to not mention that probably costs them the most applicants on sits that require cars. Personally, I often rent cars, but many sitters donât. Hosts with such sits also can struggle.
Recently a sit came up which happened to be in my City but as they had only listed a suburb of the City it wouldnât mean a thing to anyone living outside the area.
As it was a new homeowner I contacted them (and immediately withdrew my application) offering them some advice.
I suggested listing the City and then mention the lovely area they live in, the great connectivity, mention the museums, theatres, craft breweries, parks, fabulous country walks on their doorstep etc etc.
It was a cat sit so lots of free time to explore.
I heard nothing, not even mind your own business. The listing hasnât changed and they still have no applicants.
I donât know why I bother sometimes 
Many hosts lack the ability to put themselves in sittersâ place, so they end up with few or no applicants, or they end up with weak applicants and take greater risks with bad sits.
Some sitters also canât put themselves in hostsâ place and provide enough info to help hosts confidently pick them.
In both cases, folks can learn, but some wonât make the effort. In such cases, shrug, they can figure out alternative ways to get pet care or travel less or come up with alternative ways to travel. Their problem.
Second that completely, hermana! Putting yourself in someone elseâs place is a talent that helps you understand things a lot better and provide for the info (or things, preparations etc.) the other one needs. As a smart person once said âCommunication is keyâ - was that you?
Iâve been and am blessed with locations that people always want to travel to, so Iâve never had to fumble for sitters (well, once, but that was with a week to spare only), but I could imagine there are sits that are simply unpopular because of the location, no?
That said, as a new homeowner youâve been recommended THS as the place to find someone to take care of your things. But then you have no experience in how to handle all of this, youâre not on the forums, you donât really know whether you want a stranger to have full access to your home, all your belongings and most of all your beloved pets⊠itâs a learning curve (great sitters help build that trust).
Iâll still have to accumulate sitting experience and expand my horizons; Iâm planning to do that in the future and hope that makes me smarter 
Well that is my point. There are things that we take for granted, conveniences of how we ourselves manage because we are familiar with how things work in âourâ world.
But there are those that dream about going somewhere, in this example the US, who are not familiar and would not even know to ask the right questions.
A HO that can explain or even facilitate access to basics like food would definitely attract more applicants.
In my own personal experience, I have been able to stay for months is extremely isolated locations because of wonderful HO who helped me have a stock to last.
Just offering suggestions as requested.
With sits, every place can be abroad and unfamiliar to someone, since sitters can come from anywhere domestically and internationally theoretically. Most people would want to know about basics.
This host has a nice home and still isnât getting enough applications, so if they stick with saying just what they want, theyâre probably not going to help themselves, and their OP and listing will still need addressing.
More power to you: You have a much higher tolerance for (mis)adventure and unpleasant surprises than many sitters, as youâve previously mentioned. Few sitters embrace such. Given that, Iâd say that hosts in general would be better off not using you as the barometer and instead offer specificity about say where food is available, because most sitters want such details in the listing, without applying. Otherwise, many will skip to other listings.
As weâve seen various hosts post, even ones whoâve in the past landed sitters can now struggle, given that there are more sits than sitters. Thatâs especially so in places like the U.S., which is flush with sits. And among those, the OPâs location is not a top draw. So better to consider how to make basic info clear and robust in their listing.
Their choice, of course.