It would also be a good idea for HO to revisit their listings with regards to headings. Some state Xmas sitter needed or Half Term Cover required and the actual listing isn’t for that time of year at all.
Also I am sure it has been said before - ensure the key photo is a good one and relevant to the sit and not some local beauty spot. Photos should be quality and relevance over quantity.
Revisiting Headings is a great tip.@twitcher… Frequently the description refers to an earlier sit or includes dates, which haven’t been updated resulting in confusing messaging. It’s good to keep headings evergreen and relevant for all sits, unless of course you are super organized and remember to update each time.
Lots of good ideas coming through … thanks everyone and keep them coming.
Is there a way, before owners post a new listing, to make them look at their title? and even their first paragraph? Just ‘check this’ before they can make the post. A large percentage of sits I look at have out-of-date and contradictory-confusing listings, and I wonder, don’t owners see this stuff?
@Lauraa
As a HO you create one listing with title and all pictures and descriptions.
When you add new dates you only need to post these without having to look at the listing again, because it is saved.
I always check if everything is still up to date but obviously, not all HOs do this.
I always send a message to point out any title anomalies to home hosts if I spot them
and can you do that now without applying, ie ticking the dates? I remember being prevented from doing that when I had no history with the owners.
you would be amazed at the bizarre mismatches between titles and dates and descriptions of houses they no longer live in.
@Lauraa - I click the dates then explain that I am not applying but just want to point out to them the error on their listing. Almost every time I get a reply thanking me for pointing it out to them
I agree wholeheartedly with lauraa’s suggestion that the listing is presented to the HO before it can go live, and they must check the pets involved, the title etc. I frequently see sits advertised for, say, one dog and two cats using the little pet icons, but on reading the sit, it’s apparent that the dog is going with the owner (or is no longer with us, etc). As I prefer sitting cats, I would pass over a sit like this whereas in reality I would be happy to look after just two cats. Having owners verify the content of their ad is most definitely the best thing THS could do here.
Hi @Vanessa_A, just wondering whether there is any update on what Danielle has come up with re getting this information out to the wider community. I have a combined membership and so far, no notification has been received from THS.
Hi @temba Vanessa is offline at the moment and so I will pick this up for you.
There is a Blog post in process which is how we will get the information out to the wider community. Everyone will receive an email with the blog post link included.
Thank you
This is a super helpful thread, thanks TH @Vanessa_A for starting it. I’m a bit perplexed and concerned that my sit listing (for the month of June, in Portland, OR) has garnered only two responses in 2 days. When I first used TH in 2018-2019 I’d usually have about 10-12 replies by now and they’d often keep coming. My first thought was that my listing is not being seen because I hadn’t seen a great need to upgrade my legacy membership. So it’s good to know there are other possible explanations. Funny, I thought with so many people becoming digital nomads during the pandemic that the ratio would’ve shifted to have more sitters competing for sits. Apparently not.
Good points, but I wonder why you need a clear picture of the HO.
I am a little leery when profile pics are of a flower or a dog. It’s just nice to have some idea of the person whose home you’d be staying in, just as they like to see a picture of us.
While I appreciate your comment please understand that some of us have real issues with our dogs. I have Weimaraners for example and they are notoriously sufferers of separation anxiety. This is a breed issue and cannot be worked on right before we leave home. I tried to board my dogs for training purposes. But they did not do well at all and if left too long become nervous and destructive. They have broken out in stress dermatitis and chews collars off of each other for ex. so now I need someone at my home with my dogs for most of the time. I’m very clear in my listing about all of these issues. I don’t think it’s fair to tell homeowners that they have to train their dogs in preparation of a sit.
I don’t think it’s fair to tell homeowners that they have to train their dogs in preparation of a sit.
Where did I say any such thing?
Of course there are dogs with legitimate issues. That’s really not what this was aimed at. There is a drastic uptick in ‘can’t be alone more than {short time}’ pets now post covid. Not all of these animals have legitimate issues. Most have just been trained by their owners to have that level of need because everyone has been home 24/7 for the last 2 years. THOSE are the owners who will need to actually work on retraining their pets as it’s really not sustainable now that the world is reopening and people are going back to the office.
The same thing is happening to me. I get invites to sit almost every day. I love sitting, but sometimes I need to go home and regroup. I also always reply. It’s often a sit I’d love to do if the timing were different.
Hello everyone can we please keep on topic, Sitter/Owner Ratios and helping members be successful … if you do wish to discuss other subjects and cannot find an appropriate thread, why not start a whole new conversation which can also include other members.
Thank you …
Any further news from Danielle with regard to a communication going out to all members about the temporary imbalance between sitters and owners?
Thank You
I’m finding this debate really rather strange at this point- so many sitters suggesting ways for home-owners to improve their listings. I emphasise “at this point” because it’s clearly a sitters market (lots of sits, not enough enough sitters) - if the sitter doesnt like a home-owner’s listing, surely it’s easy enough to dismiss that one and move onto one that does.
Addressing the balance would mean either reducing home-owners (which a process of self-selection with poor quality listings helps 
) or increasing sitters.
Also, rather selfishly, I hope that (having done what I can to make my own sit attractive to sitters), other home-owners’ shortcomings increase my chances of finding a sitter 
