That’s great you’ve taken notice of the advice and help offered @Jay. I have checked your listing and it is still labelled Low Applications. It’s really important that you remove the dates (just briefly) then re-post them as that is what causes it to become New which is what you want.
The other change I would make is your title which is important in catching the sitter’s attention. At present there are 9841 sits advertised worldwide AND they are all wanting a house and pet sitter! That’s why they and you are using this platform. So, having that as your title doesn’t make your listing stand out from all the others. Think about why your pets and location would appeal to a sitter. e.g. ‘Friendly dogs keen to share their walks with you’, ‘Peaceful location with friendly canine companions’.
Earlier someone pointed out that my previous sitter had not complted the feed back. Can it still be complted now. I thought there was a time limit. I have tried to contact her but she has not replied to messages.
WANTED - Looking for a pet sitter and House sitter.
is a nonsense title . ALL listings are looking for a pet/house sitter. by default.
Sitters are looking at 12? thumbnails at a time, probably searching by location, or perhaps by dates, and will be drawn into the other ones, which offer a little bit more meaningful description.
I have no idea where Burdon is, maybe add the county in your title?
for example, I typed in your town, and amongst the 12 thumbnails found, this one has way more appeal, tells us the breed of dogs, how many, etc
Temba
Thank you so much for your advice. I think this is only the second time I have used this forum. I am amazed at how useful it is, people have been brilliant.
It’s marked as “accesible by public transport”. I think it may be worth giving some information about it. How far the bus stop or train station is and where the line/s take you. This will help attract people who rely on public transport. Some owners also offer to pick up sitters from the station and take them to a shop to get their groceries.
@Jay I made that comment about no review from your last sitter. Although the window for your sitter to provide a review has passed, she can reply to the review you gave her. She could also provide a reference, referring to the sit dates, explain that she missed the deadline and then provide her ‘review’. This is all assuming you reach her and she can provide positive feedback about her experience on your sit.
When I joined THS about 8-9 years ago, I signed up for emails fitting my sit interests and received them. That stopped about 6 years ago, even though my profile says I’m signed up and I’ve tried toggling that setting on and off multiple times just in case that “nudges” the system. So I never ever receive notifications of listings fitting my saved searches and I always have to check the THS site manually.
My other comment is that I’ve been approached to do a sit many times by HOs and it has never ever been a sit I wanted to do (even I was free on those dates). So I’ve always advised HOs that the best thing to do is write a good complete listing and let sitters apply who are interested in your location, sit details and are available on the sit dates. In my mind, that’s really the only way that works.
Oh one more thing…for occasional (vs FT) sitters like me, we may not update our availability dates regularly as our life schedules change, although the system will show if we’ve booked a sit through THS.
Hi Temba,
The reason I no longer need a sitter is I could not get one. Because of the time factor I had to make a decision about the holiday. At the moment my wife will be going and I am at home with the animals. Because of circumstances that may change and the holiday may have to be cancelled.
Interestingly I did some research on THS rivals and found that they could teach THS a few things. One company penalises customers for not replying to emails. Also most of the sitters publish an accurate calendar of availability.
I think it’s unfair to blame THS when it was almost impossible for sitters to apply for your listing due to an initial inaccurate description and uncertain dates. It was a muddle that I think you now accept. So for next time you have some top tips and a much better understanding of how to promote/portray your listing so that sitters can at least understand what’s on offer and required of them. It’s all about the optimisation of your offering. Learn how to do this and you’ll get a lot of sitters replying. Best wishes
The THS calendar function isn’t conducive to Sitters “publish[ing] an accurate list of their availability.” Hard to explain if you’ve not tried using it, but it’s utterly unmanageable.
Also just to point out (as others have done elsewhere) - this is a hobby for Sitters. We’re not employees, nor are we a stable of servants who must account for our plans & time, & can be called up as needed by someone who needs service or randomly sends us an invite.
I’m retired. I travel & sit when I like — sometimes planned, sometimes unexpectedly, just because a listing appeals to me. IOW — I do sits on MY whim, not someone else’s.
Along those lines, there are many of us who don’t care whether we ever receive unsolicited invitations. That’s because there are loads of variables when it comes to sits we’re interested in doing or not. A random invite has low odds of being a match.
Yes. THS does not really facilitate the invitations system. Sitters would need to be given a lot more ways to communicate about their preferences in order for the invites to work. And even then, I will not write in my profile “will only accept invitations to cat sits”, even though it is 99% of my sits, because that will turn away dog parents even when I am the one applying. I can enjoy the company of dogs, but I dont enjoy the labour that comes with dogs, so there has to be a caveat for me to go for dog sit.
Presumably this is a platform where sitters are paid to sit like ‘rover’. How are they penalised though…. it’s kind of a weird idea don’t you think that free sitters would be required to justify how they spend their own time tbh it’s nobody’s business….
Oh just add a counter on the corner of the profile. “This person has a xx% reply rate”. Every now and then the system checks how often the sitter/host has responded to a message within 24 hours. Or at all. Or within a week.
Ok fair, I dont want this anymore, THS would just mess it up and make it completely useless but still use it as a reason to ask for more money.
Merrypuppins,
I cannot argue with some of the things you said, but as a pet owner, I have a slightly different view. Of course, people who want to sit can pick and choose what sit they do, when no one picks up your sit and the holiday dates are getting closer the only option you have is to send invites. The more information provided the better, that way it saves both parties a waste of time.
The difference between sitters and house/pet owners is sitters have the option to pick and choose when and if they want to sit a house/pet owners are reliant on a sitter picking up there dates and have very little control if they get a sit.
Merrypuppins,
In relation to the calendar, I have suggested to THS a traffic light system. Simple, Red not available, amber? Green available,
As for your hobby for sitters, when you join an organisation, whether it be a club, a union or anything else or even THS, there are rules which should be followed. I, of course, appreciate that people are free to do what they want, not every sitter has the same reasons for sitting as you and that can make a difference.
All I would say to you is that when you have been in my position, trying to get a sitter when you have no replies and the holiday dates are getting closer, you may know how I feel.
