I checked out your listing and have a few suggestions if you’re open to them.
You have really fabulous pictures of Ralphie, but all the “home” photos such as your bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen are all taken from weird angles and/or with the lights off, so they are not very enticing. Remember, taking care of Ralphie is part of the deal, but having a comfortable place to stay is the other part. If people aren’t enticed by your listing, they will likely pass it up.
Second, you start your listing off by saying you’ve joined the site because Ralphie has anxiety. There are ways to get your message across, but it a better light. For example, “I travel from time to time for XYZ reason and my sweet playful boy Ralphie really enjoys human companionship and doesn’t like to be alone.”
Look through your listing and see if there are any areas in which you can still tell the truth, but with a positive spin as you point out many of his negative flaws. Which, I understand you want to make sitters fully aware of the situation, but there needs to be a balance to attract sitters.
Another suggestion would be to look at other listings for inspiration on how you could word your listing. I do that from time to time looking at other sitters profiles to see what kind of information they are sharing and how they describe themselves.
I disagree also…I’m a planner. Especially if we want several sits in the same area. I don’t think 3-4 months ahead is unreasonable, especially for longer sits, which we like. And, if I were a HO I would want that part of my trip wrapped up and not have to worry about it again. If they are short weekend sits, of course we understand that much time is not necessary.
Appreciate all that feedback! Sounds like you haven’t had any issues with people declining your invitations or not responding. So there’s hope. I’ll definitely reword the anxiety sentence. I’m someone who wants straight talk and I get turned off when people dance around a topic, but I can see why others may need that. I can also add more photos. The camera on my phone isn’t great and those were the best images that came through, even when the lights were on. I will add “angle” shots to accompany the straight-on shots I currently have posted. Perhaps I’ll borrow someone else’s phone to get a better outcome, too.
I think your home photos are OK, but if you want to brighten them, there is probably a filter on your phone to increase exposure.
I’m a cat lover, but don’t need 15 photos of the same creature (although I know it is hard to delete any!)
Remember that your headline is a marketing tool, and is one of the first things
that sitters see when browsing listings. Make it appealing, and don’t waste words - e.g. no need to say “sitter needed”. We know you need a sitter. Maybe change it to “Young, loving cat in trendy, walkable, area” or whatever applies. Sitters will just see the first 7 words or so in a thumbnail, so make those words count.
Finally - have you tried canned pumpkin in his food for loose stools?
I did try pumpkin, but he doesn’t like it. I do use a pumpkin product called “firm up” that works a bit. So far, pate in small amounts seems to be working the best. Appreciate the suggestion!
We’ve been on a free house sitters site for a few years and never had any problems getting someone before. Sadly, our sitter that was booked months ago has now cancelled on us and with one month to go, we have no one applying (this is our first listing on Trusted). We’ve posted pictures, written a description but had no applicants.
Any advice would be gratefully received as we have a nice, clean home with two easy going felines to look after… what more can I do???
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Janine
This will allow potential sitters to view it, but also for forum members to give constructive feedback. Sometimes a simple tweak can make all the difference.
If you’d prefer not to do that for some reason, add the location (city/country) as shown on your listing, and the date range.
Just want to add – as a sitter, I prefer the guest room over the main bedroom. I do sleep in the main bedroom if necessary, of course, as not everyone has two available rooms . . . but given the choice, I go for the guest room every time, even if it’s modest by comparison.
Homeowners, please be careful here. There’s a huge difference between a pet preferring companionship to being alone (don’t they all?), and genuine anxiety (read: separation anxiety). If your pet suffers from the latter, please don’t try to whitewash it in order to attract sitters - that’s not fair to the pet or the sitter. Genuine separation anxiety needs experience to deal with so please be honest.
Hello @fijabee and welcome to the community. @Snowbird has answered your query about the calendar below, but to answer your other question, the Sitter Search is based on the members location - where they live/registered when joining the platform.
Sitters often want to travel overseas to a sit and are open to all sorts of destinations, so please don’t let that stop you from reaching out. Some of our own best sits have been as a result of someone coming to us with an opportunity in a country we hadn’t been considering at that time. Obviously the pandemic put some restriction on the flexibility we used to enjoy, but there’s a strong rebound now in overseas sits again where restrictions have eased.
I do understand your frustration, this past 2 years has thrown multiple challenges at both owners and sitters, as well as for TrustedHousesitters as a business trying to maintain a balanced ratio throughout all the twists and turns of the pandemic.
We have just posted a new topic that both feeds back about the current situation with the sitter/owner ratios, along with some tips that might help while this temporary imbalance stabilizes.
Thanks- it would be more useful perhaps when searching sitters to be able to search their desired location- most seem to have the whole list!
regards Fiona
Hi, we are in the same situation, we normally get quite a few replies, but at the moment, not received a single response. I know my dates are still a long time away, but I also need to organise a plan B if I can’t get sitters.
ADMIN UPDATE - To address the concerns of members on this thread, we’ve opened a new topic which answers the questions around “Where have all the sitters gone?”
You’ll also find 10 valuable tips to help you as an owner if you are finding less sitters than usual applying to your sit listing. We encourage you to head over to this thread and have a read… sometimes it only takes a small adjustment to make a big difference to the outcome
Here’s the link:
Thank-you to everyone who has contributed and given their valuable feedback.
I have been a member of THS for a number of years and I am finding it difficult to find a sitter for later in the year. I have also tried contacting sitters directly but even the ones who have blue dots on their calendars are saying they are not available. I realise things are difficult just now with Covid but I am seriously doubting whether it is worth renewing my membership.
I apologize for the misunderstanding. I didn’t mean not to mention it at all. I just meant perhaps open softer and then later in the details mention the anxiety.
Hello THS community! After seeing it advertised online, I thought this would be PERFECT for someone like me who needs a live-in house and pet sitter. Unfortunately, it’s not panning out how I had hoped. I’ve had my listing posted for several days with no nibbles and have reached out to 30 sitters, all of whom declined my invite. Is this typical for the site? Do other homeowners find it this difficult to get a sitter or am I just being unrealistic with the timeline?
