Hi everyone
Total new to this so after some advice. Is it best to approach local people to sit? People from further afield but in the same country - Iām in the U.K.
or just wait and see ?
Iām wanting to hook up a hols, but donāt want to do this until we have a sitter booked - any advice for a newbie to this 
Welcome @annepolet to the forum.
Rather that approaching sitters - make a listing and sitters who are interested will apply to sit for you.
You can then choose from the applications by looking at their profile and any reviews from previous home owners that they have sat for.
You will need firm dates for your listing so that the sitters know if they are available.
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Hi there and welcome to THS!
Having an attractive listing that gains applicants is often the most successful way to secure a sitter. You are welcome to send invites to sitters, but this often has a low success rate, as most sitters near you are not searching for local sits and many also do not have an accurate availability calendar (the calendar is difficult to use). Here is a blog you can check out to make sure your listing is attractive as possible and gains applicants. Good luck! 
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I have just tried to edit my profile, and I canāt seem to change it.
This info needs to be available before we create a profile not after.
What happens if we canāt get a sit. Money paid for nothing that could have been spent on dog care.
It all seems very unreliable
I have seen this a few times now. It would have been more helpful if this was available before doing a profile, not after.
I canāt seem to now change my profile.
Is there anywhere to go for extra assistance?
@annepolet from the Help,section you can do a live chat 
ask to speak to a human.
Before becoming a member you have to agree to the T&Cs so all the information is there before you sign up -
This forum has helpful members who explain the process - we are fellow THS members only - sitters and hosts - we are not being paid by THS .
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@annepolet The two links that have been given to you of how to create a good listing are available on the THS website. In fact, there is so much help offered in blogs and articles by clicking on the Help button. Itās just that new members are so keen to get their listing or profile written that they donāt bother to check the help available.
Also make sure you have read the Code of Conduct and Terms of Service as you have agreed to them by joining THS.
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Hi @annepolet ! You said you have problems editing your profile.
THS use the term listing for the page you use to give information about your sit, so thatās the word to look for.
Are you using the app or website to edit your listing?
If youāre on the app, the Edit-button is a bit hard to find. You need to first click the āMeā button from the bottom right corner on the profile page, then āView & edit listingā.
Thaāll take you to your listing preview. Now you need to click āEditā on the upper right corner of the page to start editing your info.
On the web page itās easier. Just log in and choose āYour listingā from the drop down menu on the top right corner and start editing.
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Iām not sure why you have already come to the conclusion that the service is unreliable,ā just the other day someone mentioned that there are about 160,000 people on this platform, scattered all around the world (mainly in the UK, USA and Australia though). Something must be working! 
Just a kindly reminder that here on the Forum we are just sitters and home owners, we donāt work for THS. Our opinions, suggestions, recommendations, all come from tried and true situations. The Forum itself is a mine of useful info, by using the spyglass you will have answers to any question imaginable.
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The blog is available to anyone, regardless of whether youāre a member or not or have or have not yet created a listing. Itās on the website under the āblogs,ā section. You should be able to easily edit your listing if & when you want to from your dashboard when you log in to your account. If youāre having trouble, you can contact support to help you. None of us here are THS staff, just fellow members trying to help you out. Hope that helps!
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Itās really not unreliable. THS connects thousands of sitters and owners all over the world every day. Weāve done 40 sits across 18 countries in 3 years of full time sitting. We donāt sit in the UK (even though half of us is a Brit) as we want to use it to travel. Many of your applicants are likely to be from overseas. Youāve had great advice already to read the website, digest the Ts & Cs & build a brilliant listing. @Nagy26ās blog is very helpful & there are tonnes of website resources as @temba mentioned. Think of it like Airbnb where you appeal to a guest and that guest takes care of your pets & homes while you holiday. Mutual exchange. A win win. Talk to support on the chat if you need extra help. Everyone on here is a sitter, an owner or both so we all started somewhere. #gogetem
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Just for the sake of new HOās: the above is correct, if youāre using the web page.
If youāre using the app, you have to go through the āMeā tab as explained earlier in this thread. I have a really hard time understanding, why the web site and the app follow so different logic 
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Thank you. I managed to get live chat and help with changing my profile. It all seems a little overwhelming initially
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All sorted now thanks. I see these available, but I do think it would be helpful to say to read these before creating your profile, not to go straight ahead and create a profile.
Thank you
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Thank you . I managed to get support and can now edit
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Thank you for explaining. I thought the forum was the THS help
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Thank you I contacted ths help 
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Thank you.
I contacted support re editing my listing .
Iām still not sure Iāve made the right decision. I donāt like the idea of selling myself and my pets to get pet care, in retrospect I donāt think I read everything well enough before joining,.
I do enough self promotion with the businesses I run, so wasnāt expecting to do it for pet care.
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No problem, itās not for everyone @annepolet . My day job is as a marketing consultant so I get the āselling thingā. As sitters we also have to āsellā ourselves for very competitive sits with our experience, care etc. Ultimately itās only putting up pics of the house, pets, amenities and responsibilities which a sitter needs to see/know in order to apply, just like any job. The UK is a bit tougher for the HO as there are way more sits than sitters so itās competitive. If youāre somewhere appealing like the Cotswolds or London or Cornwall youāll have no problem and then it also depends how many animals you have and what care they need as itās a platform where money doesnāt change hands. My folks have 4 labs and it costs them Ā£800 for a weekās kennels so thatās when THS seems like a bargain! #wishyouwell
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