A good start to 2016: Pimp your profile and start pet sitting!

Author picture Pawshake

More and more pet parents find a great sitter for their pet on the internet. At the same time, more and more animal lovers discover how much fun it is to be a pet sitter. If you want to catch the eye of pet parents on the lookout and convince them that your particular pet sitting service is what they are looking for, it's a good idea to invest a few minutes to get your profile up to scratch. This way, you'll get a lot more requests in the new year. Let's go :-)

1) Photos of you and your environment
Upload a happy and clear profile picture of yourself. It's the first thing visitors see, so make it a picture that represents you well. You can also upload several pictures of yourself in action, interacting with pets, or of your house and environment. The latter is especially important if you are offering to board pets in your home.



2) Hi, this is me!
Think about it: Who would you entrust your own beloved pet with? Precisely: A nice and enthusiastic person! Use your description to tell prospective customers all about yourself - who are you and why do you love pet sitting? Pet parents are especially interested in why you want to care for pets, and what makes you a good and reliable pet sitter. Write a detailed introduction and let them know why you are the best pet sitter out there!

3) And this is what I'm good at!
In this part, you get to tell people about your experiences with pets: Have you had pets of your own? If so, for how long? Have you got any experience with training and socialisation techniques? Have you attended workshops or classes about pets? How would you describe your approach when meeting new pets? How do you handle pets? Tell it in as much detail as possible.

In your dashboard, you can enter and edit your details

4) What services do you offer?
Check again whether you have advertised the right services that you want to offer on your profile. Do you want to offer home visits or board pets in your own home? Or both? Do you offer a dog walking service? Make sure to check your rates as well. You can adjust them any time, if you consider it necessary. You can read more about determining your rates here.

5) Is your calendar up to date?
It's very important that you are actually active on Pawshake, if you are maintaining a profile here. Imagine you were looking for a pet sitter - you would want a reply as soon as possible, once you've contacted someone, right? If you are unavailable for a day or so, note it in your calendar. Just block the dates when you are unavailable, so pet owners will see it right away on your profile. If you are going away on holiday block those dates out on your calender by using your holiday settings!

6) Reply to messages quickly
In order to let pet parents know whether you can help them or not ASAP, and to give your profile a good score in the search results, it's important to provide a fast response. This is also the case if you won't be able to help them out. Pet parents like to know where they're at, so decline in a friendly way if you're not available, or, even better: Send them an invitation for a Meet and Greet if you are available!


7) Your own pets in the spotlight
Naturally, your pets deserve their own spot on your profile. You can update your pet's profile any time. You can upload photos and fill in some details on breed, sex or whether your pet gets along with other pets. This is important information for pet owners who want to book you! You can also add a fun description and tell them something about your pet. You can find all pets on our Wall of Paws.

8) Check the app
It's a good idea to log in on Pawshake every now and then to check your details and reply to messages. Fortunately, that's super easy and you can do it on the go using our Pawshake app for Android and iOS. Through this app you can adjust your profile, reply to messages and accept bookings. Have you installed it yet?

Once your profile is entirely 2016-proof and your are happy with it, the entire world should know, right? Share your profile on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or do it the old-fashioned way and advertise on the notice board in your local supermarket. We're willing to bet that pet owners in your area will be thrilled!

Happy 2016 and have fun pet sittng!

Love,
Pawshake