Ack! Three weeks before a giant trip and my sitter has FLAKED. I am so irritated. It was so much work and effort to sift through my many applicants, interview and narrow down to the one I chose. This was five months ago, because I am a planner. Now, she’s bailed and I have 3 weeks until we leave and no applicants at all in the 24 hours it’s been re-listed. Any advice? No, there was no reasonably good reason for her change of heart.
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Hi @moretravel ,
A warm welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you’ve had a cancellation and I really hope we can help you. Sitters are tending to book closer to dates now so maybe this will be to your advantage…
My first piece of advice would be to add a link to your sit in your forum (How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile) profile to expose it to other members who use the forum regularly. Since you had many applications the first time it sounds like your listing was very desirable and has a lot of appeal.
My second piece of advice if you don’t get more attention after adding a link to your profile is to come back and introduce yourself to the forum and add a little bit about yourself, what you like about your area as a homeowner and we always LOVE to see photos of beloved pets.
I do hope you get some positive feedback and find replacement sitters very soon.
Kelly & the Forum Team
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Hi Kelly, thank you so much for the reply and the advice, it’s much appreciated. I’ll add my link to my profile here. I didn’t realize this forum was another layer of exposure to house sits, so that’s good to know as well! I appreciate the welcome.
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Hi @moretravel I’m sorry to hear of the frustration you’re up against. I’m also very much of a planner, so I can relate. I feel like what I’m about to say is obvious, but have you considered contacting those who initially applied? I realize some may not have been suitable to you, but of those that were, a quick email to them may be effective. I realize a lot of time has passed since they applied, but you might be successful. I know it’s worked for other homeowners I know, and that was with someone who had applied the previous year for a different sit for them. 
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Thank you Snowbird… this is also good advice. It’s worth a shot tho there may have only been one that would even be suitable. I feel pretty dead in the water at this point with a ticking clock and so much stress I wasn’t anticipating at all.
@moretravel I took a look at your listing. A couple of tweaks to suggest:
Headline: With an online search, only the first few words display. On the app, it will show a few more. The listing will already show it’s Boise and two cats. Shorten your headline to perhaps start with ‘North end …’ , but how important will that be to know? I know nothing about your city, but that might be the case for many sitters. Look for the key feature of your sit and make sure it’s conveyed in your first three words.
Photos: Owners need to review their listing after it’s created. Sometimes the photos have not displayed as you’d hoped. The system is set to favour landscape (like an envelope), rather than portrait. Unfortunately, the lovely photos of Henry Boone & Bexie are not showing their best features - their faces 
(at least, not on my laptop).
Sitters: This is Boise, Idaho. The link to the listing is embedded in the member’s username. You will have lots of free time on this sit, and there’s a car included. Please take a look.
Francine,
Volunteer Forum Moderator 
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Thank you for the excellent advice!! 
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