Thank you and yes hopefully fingers crossed 
hi, we are looking for an active and friendly house sitter for this august from 30 July - 20 August 2022. We have a lovely 4 year old labrador Minnie and a young kitten misty too. We have always had great experiences with house sitters. I don’t know why but I posted a listing and we haven’t had any enquiries back which is unusual. Are there any other ways to promote the listing? Thanks
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On behalf of Angela and Vanessa a warm welcome to the TrustedHousesitter’s forum.
As you cannot share a link to your listing in this post, do share a link to your listing on your forum profile for a bit of extra exposure. But the main website is where ALL our members will see your opportunity and be able to apply and message with you.
If at any time you need any help don’t hesitate to reach out to our community here which is full of helpful members who have been through the process themselves and will happily give advice and guidance. And don’t forget our membership support team are always on hand to give assistance.
All the very best, The Forum team
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Welcome
I took a look for your sit and wish I was available for a nice 3 week sit, but already sitting your dates. I’ll watch for future sits.
tom
@franceschiswick you have two gorgeous pets in what sounds a wonderful location in one of our favourite areas of London. I can understand that you would normally receive lots of interest in your listing. Unfortunately we aren’t available for the first part of your dates, or we might well have applied. We have 2 boys similar ages to your children.
With the strange few years we have had, some sitters may be leaving it a little later than usual to look for sits at the moment. Your dates are still a few months away, so there is still time.
Hi @franceschiswick and welcome to the forum. With so many uncertainties remaining, more sitters are waiting until closer to a sit date. Although you are no doubt concerned and would like to see things arranged, you do still have lots of time to find a suitable sitter.
To directly answer your question, here are some ways to promote your listing:
- Embed your listing in your username, as Therese has suggested.
- An alternative is to post the details - location (city/country) as shown on your listing and repeat the date range with those details.
- Review Angela’s top 10 tips
- Switch out your first photo - maybe from home to pet, or vice versa - to refresh what sitters see when searching.
- Consider the constructive feedback from forum members (once they can view your listing) and act on those that appeal to you.
- If you have a standard or premium membership, gauge when to best use your boost option to move your listing to the first page again.
- If you get to closer to the start date without a confirmed sitter, ask @Angela_L to promote your listing on social media.
Usually time spent on improving your listing can get the results you’re looking for. Then Minnie and Misty can have new play friends while you travel. 
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OH NO – for this tip, please no… then I’d have to re-read every post when i did a search to see whether I’d apply! 
As it is I’m counting on seeing a consistent first photo, since I can’t omit homes from searches that aren’t a good fit for me.
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Success!! FYI, I just found a sitter for my Aug '22 and June '22 sits. Aug was a replacement sit as the original TH sitter canceled and June was a fresh sit.
I had to be very tenacious. I reposted the sit and only had about 4 applicants. However, none were what I preferred as they were all couples and my profile specifically said “Only solo sitters”. Only 2 of those applications were qualified.
First, I went to the sitters who saved my listing and messaged them. Using the search feature, I also messaged sitters who not only were in my local area, but in surrounding states. No lie, about 70-80 invites later, I found a sitter who was right here in NYC. I’m super grateful, happy, and lucky that the sitter I found agreed to do both sits!
Most of the sitters that I messaged. I was very grateful to the ones that did. The majority of those that did respond said that they had other plans, but that I should keep them in mind for future sits. I have saved them to my list of favorite sitters. Some sitters said that June and Aug was too far ahead for them to plan. I understand though as it’s summer travel and Covid is still here. Travel is very fluid nowadays.
So all in all, don’t give up! Stay with it and keep hope alive lol!
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Yay! Super glad you found someone!
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Hello!
Yes I am so happy that I found a wonderful person to commit to our sit for 2 ½ weeks late June to early July. It only took about 2 weeks to find someone from when I first joined and posted an available sit.
Good luck to everyone looking for a sitter – there are so many wonderful people out there looking and firming up summer travel plans. 
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As a sitter, if I am waiting 6 weeks for the owner to make a decision, I’m moving on. To me, as a sitter, that comes off as very disrespectful. It appears that they don’t think my application is “good enough” and they are waiting for someone “better”. By all means, if you don’t get any acceptable applicants then wait, but, if you are happy with applicant start talking with them to book them. Otherwise, you will likely find when you do get around to choosing someone, they will no longer be available.
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Yes as a sitter i agree that 6 weeks is way too long to wait for a response.
Also many other sits we’d be missing out on by waiting for a HO to make up their minds.
I think up to a week is reasonable personally.
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Well, yes, actually this is the case. Not every sitter is a good fit, so I wait for a better one. But I do respond and tell them to move on when another HO wants them.
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Hi everyone, I am new to the site. After reading through some of the replies, I have just deleted and amended wording on my listing. I’m going away 4th June for 2 weeks and have had 3 declines and 2 non answers on my invite. I am starting to worry that no one will want to come to mine and hang out with my fur babies
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Hi @Becky76 and welcome to the forum. It’s good that you’ve added a link to your listing in your username. Perhaps forum members can give you some helpful feedback.
I suggest to add some information about your daily routine for walks for Cleo, as this is important to sitters.
You show that sitters need a car and yet you say the village shops are a mile away, You may want to instead consider adding more information as to whether groceries can be delivered, or whether there is anything similar to Uber in the area, and how close you are to public transit. If you can remove the need for a car, your listing will be attractive to far more sitters.
If you have a standard membership, keep in mind that you can boost your listing once, which will move it to the first page again.
Francine,
Voluntary Forum Moderator
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Welcome Becky76! Your listing is appealing, particularly as you are within walking distance of the beach. As Francine says, “sitters need a car” is a sticking point for many sitters now, especially since rental/hire car prices have gone up so much.
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@Becky76 do you have bicycles, which sitters can use? As the shop is not that far away, maybe this would be an option if you don’t want or can offer the use of a car?
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Thank you so much for the advice. I have edited my listing and fingers crossed
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I have posted a sit about a month ago for 2nd June 2022. Usually i have several applicants in a matter of days or even hours… i have not had one yet, i have checked that it is live tpp which it is.
Any body experiencing this…location sea view, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Uk
Thanks
Hi @cindy1 I took at look at your listing. You have beautiful views from your home that show well in your photos, but some of your interior photos could be improved. You have two photos that are quite dark. Also, there’s no photo of the kitchen or bathroom. You will read on the forum that most sitters want to see the interior areas they will be using.
Because you mention various places within walking distance where someone can eat, are you sure a car is essential, or just ideal? The reason I ask is that many sitters without a vehicle will pass by your listing as rental costs have skyrocketed during the pandemic. If there is public transit, Uber-type options, or food and grocery delivery services, sometimes sitters are content without a vehicle, and some are happy to walk a good distance for these things. If you can remove the requirement for a sitter to have a car, it opens your listing up to a lot more sitters.
As for a change in sitter response, you may want to take a look at the Sitter/owner ratios post, as well as Angela’s top tips in that post, which may help you. If you have a standard membership, also keep in mind that you can boost your listing once, which will move it to the first page again.
Francine,
Voluntary Forum Moderator
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