Hello all! My family is very new to the site. I have been trying to get sitters for our hobby farm June 21-28. I feel that because we live rurally, there is no great interest. How does one get sitters who may be interested? Maybe they live in the city and need a break, emphasised text, perhaps they have kiddos, and our farm would be a connection. I just need advice. I have sent out some invites, which may be my best option. But I don’t feel we are getting folks who may want to travel to the area and stay as a family.
Your best bet is to produce a listing that’s appealing, with enough lead time to potentially attract applicants, possibly including families. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll attract applicants, or the right applicants, so you’ll always need a fallback plan.
Even with applicants and a confirmed sit, you always need a backup plan, in case a sitter(s) has an emergency.
You can always invite sitters, but those rarely pan out, because there are many variables when it comes to sitters’ availability and preferences.
You might also want to try Workaway, where sitters do farm stays in exchange for lodgings and such.
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I agree that this sit could be a great opportunity for a family as you have so many lovely animals to care for .
I recommend that you add photos of all the bedrooms and beds to your listing so that a family can see where they would all sleep.
Many sitters won’t have experience with horses so this might be putting off some from applying. Additionally some sitters will not see your listing if they have filtered their search not to include sit with horses.
Is there anyone else you could get to take care of the horses , so that the sitters just have the dogs, cats, chickens and fish to take care of ?
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There is also a popular site called WWOOF. I’ve met people in my travels that were on this. They are advertised as worldwide opportunities on organic farms. You would have to provide food and lodging. I bet you would have no problems getting someone from this site. They welcome working many hours to experience farm life.
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We have sat many times on isolated farmsteads and loved it. One of them was up a five mile dirt road in the North of New Zealand. Nothing around except fresh air. Completely off grid. Emphasis the scenery and hikes around your area. Time the work needed to look after your animals and post it on the listing so people can see how much effort is needed.
Fingers crossed it works for you.
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Welcome to forum @marc.marie.west.herniter !
As it is equal trades and good matches all members are looking for, it is important to have a listing and a sit that someone would like to travel to and experience. I don’t think rural is the main issue, lots of attractive sits are rural.
From my sitter point of view, the listing is lacking in the information I am looking for. This means that if I was looking in your area, I would scroll along to the next listing.
You will find lots of topics on good listings. I look for already in the Intro section reasons for me to consider to go to your location. What is there to see/ do? Paint out what a stay could be. What do your children do in their spare time? What is there to do for a family? Is there sports/ games/ books/bikes or «other» available?
Good pictures of the rooms I am to use. Kitchen, bathroom -(s), bedroom (-s) etc. Many sitters find the size of bed and type of mattresses important.
A little more on the shops/ restaurants perhaps. What kind? Familyfriendly, what kind of meals/ cuisine.
It seems it is quite a lot of work through the day. Is it possible to go away during the day to see/ do things? How long?
I agree with Silversitters that horses is an important factor, as most sitters I think are more comfortable with dogs/cats/ chicken and horses require a different kind of experience - also for the welfare of your horses. If you could get someone to care for the horses (or offer the opportunity) that could be a gamechanger.
THS might not work for all, and it is true that all members regardless should have a plan B, as something could always happen. But at the same time I think that the listing needs work to give your sit the possibility of sitters. I am sure there are sitters for Indiana - you want those to chose your listing and not the others.
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How have you found the listing without it being linked? I’ve searched Indiana for those dates but it brought up a completely different sit
Listing dates are June 21-29 (differing slightly from what the OP stated). Town Terre Haute. HO names match forum names.
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Just looked at the listing. That is a lot of animals with a few horses, cats, dogs, chickens, fish. I would put on top of your listing, Welcome Families!
Maybe a family who think their kids would really enjoy being around all these animals and experiencing farm life most of the day would want this sit. It looks like a full day of work to me and never leaving the farm much.
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You may want to do a search for family sitters if that is possible. Reach out to them. If you are flexible with your travel dates you may get a match.
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Focussing just on the horses- sitters are required to separate out the mini horse at feed times then replace in the paddock. This requires experience. Also 2/5 are elderly horses 20/30 years old so lots of potential for things to deteriorate quickly again experienced sitters needed.
One good thing is no dog walking so that saves time, but a heck of a lot of poop scooping overall!
Best wishes finding sitters.
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You might want to mention how long chores take in the morning and evening. More and clearer photos of the house would help maje the listing more inviting. And photos of outside areas where people might hangout. You say you are inviting familys, but in the amenities you only list a queen bed, single and child’s bed. So only smaller families, i guess?
Do people need experience with horses. Spreading hay over two pastures sounds like a lot of work. What does that involve? Do all the cats live in the garage. With so many animals it would be helpful to have more details.
What is there to do in Terre Haute? What would attract people to the area? Would people have time to make a day trip into Indianpolis?
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