Inviting sitters Galena IL

Hello! I posted a 2 week sit about 1 month ago. I received 1 application who later declined because she wasn’t sure she would get her visa in time. My question is if I choose to invite some of the sitters who have saved my listing, do I invite 1 at a time and wait to hear back or invite multiple at once?

Those sitters will already have gotten a notification in the app. And they did not apply for those dates. An invitation is not very likely to make much of a difference.

And generally, the success rate of invitations is quite low.

@Charlize1 if you want feedback on you listing that may help, you can add the link to your forum profile.

@Charlize1 to answer your actual question, @pietkuip has pretty much summed it up.

People save listings for many reasons, usually so as to apply if and when they “may” be interested in sitting at some point. Rarely does contacting sitters who saved your listing prove fruitful, though on the odd occasion it might. You are best to list your sit and hope you get applicants.

So your question…“Do I invite 1 at a time and wait to hear back or invite multiple at once”. You invite multiple as most either won’t respond or won’t be available. Good luck.

Inviting sitters doesn’t really work unless they maybe live close by and happen to be free. Most of us are booked up way ahead and have planning in place for trips. A lady wrote to me who had contacted 200 people without success. We don’t always get favourite notifications it’s a bit hit and miss and mostly they are saved for anything that might happen in the future.

Thanks for the feedback, it sounds like inviting people would be a waste of time! I have always had a sitter apply for all my dates so far, but have never posted for 2 weeks. I would share my listing on the forum but I am challenged by technology. Just reading the steps makes me anxious, lol. I am in Galena, IL, which is a historic, quaint town. We have many HOA amenities and my dog and cat are easy to care for( past sitters reviews). I have used THS 5 or 6 times, all with 5 star reviews. I will keep waiting for an applicant, or make other plans :thinking:

@Charlize1 two weeks is a very desirable amount of time to sit so please don’t get stressed. Hang in there and hopefully the right sitters will apply.

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@Charlize1 tagging a forum moderator @Sam_F who can add the listing to your profile for you.

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Hi @Charlize1

I’ve added your listing to your profile for you :slight_smile:

Thanks @Silversitters for popping on to help, Sam is offline so I thought I’d get this sorted as I’m on all day! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Jenny

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That looks pretty awesome!

But you had not filled out the amenities. When you do that, it will show up in searches where sitters filtered for Wifi (or pool or golf etc).

Better photos of the parakeet might also help. Right now they are a bit of a puzzle.

I was confused by the fan pic at first.

Thank you Jenny! Much appreciated!

Thank you! I will make those adjustments to my profile!

Hi there, I have done a pet sit in Galena, I think it would be beneficial for you to add more information about the historic part of town, as it is so charming and Grants home, etc… also the bike trail there could be a pull for someone, that was part of the reason I went… and being so close to DuBuque which has some historic charm/biking/hiking, etc as well. Best thrift store there too! That’s an aside. :wink: POssibly even adding a link to the area…the pet sit I did, she had a link I could click on to see what was available in the community she was in, maybe even to the town itself? Just an idea…its a lovely area, very hilly and beautiful, I was not expecting that. Definitely worth a visit for folks!

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I wouldnt rule out inviting people who have saved your sit. I mostly save sits because they are in an area during a time period I’m interested in being in that area. I have accepted 2 sits from owners who reached out to me after i saved their sit. Both times the owners were a little flexible and i was able to make their sits work with other sits i was looking at. But then again i ended up not taking another sit that was offered after i saved it. The owner reached out, i told her i was considering it and asked if she wanted to set up a call. She said she’d get back to me the next day. She didn’t. And when she responded to me next it sounded like she hadn’t previously read our profile. We declined.

So my advice, if you have time and want to go the route of reaching out to the people who have saved your sit is to look at the profiles of those who have saved you and reach out to those who look most promising. Maybe people already in the area or newbies who need their first sit. Reaching out like this you can tell them more about the sit to make it more appealing. And at the very least you might make connections for your next sit.

I think it doesn’t hurt to invite, but how many at once depends on how far ahead you are. If it’s months, you could do one at a time if you feel more comfortable with that. But the shorter the time, you could invite more. If you invite multiple, and get multiple applications, then you can pick as if you just had regular applicants.
I also have some faves bookmarked in case they post a sit at a time when I could go.

My recent invitation experience was a bit weird and, I think, a don’t-do for HO’s. I got an invite from a sit I’d bookmarked. I guess he invited multiple because I still had to apply. I did that evening. The next afternoon he messaged to say he liked my application but had to decline… he had already agreed with another sitter, who was having a bit of difficulty getting flights arranged. So instead of waiting a day or three – FOUR MONTHS in advance – for her to do that, he invited other people. And then had to cancel when she got her flights. I feel like that’s “not how you do it”.
Four months out, you can give a sitter you’ve accepted, time to sort their travel logistics.

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is there anyway where the pet parent can help to apply visa for the sitter? it could be more easier to solve such delay when there is a doubt to get visa on time

I would invite people. I have had a couple of owners who I did sits years ago contact me for repeat sits.