Hi Maren! Loved your video and I am similiar in some sense that I try to stay local-ish to South Jersey due to "my life" mostly being in this area. And I'm exactly the same when making myself comfortable in a new sit - I have my packing down to a science and definitely arrange the home/kitchen and my work space to work for me while I'm there - first thing! It was refreshing to hear someone's similiar experience because out here on the East Coast, this way of living is WAY LESS common! I've been sitting for private/paid clients for 4 years and only this summer season have hopped on TH. I got 1 sit within the first week which was amazing. I'm also pretty picky and prefer a cat-only sit, but we shall see! Thanks so much for your down to earth-ness! Happy you popped up on my screen!
Hi KellySue, Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I am originally from western Connecticut actually, so not too far from you. So cool to hear about another person living this way... even in the "west", it's not like I'm exactly running into others on the street that are doing this haha. How were you previously finding your paid clients? Congrats on your 1st successful sit through THS!! It sounds like you got it really quickly too. I hope you have many more good experiences to come! The supply/demand is so different depending on location and season, so in my experience that will influence how picky you can be regarding just cats if you want to stick with THS. I appreciate you and your comment! I love this part of TH-cam where I get to hear about other people's experiences.
@@marenmakesit Hi Maren! So cool that you are originally an East Coaster! Since that comment, I now have lined up 3 really great matches on TH between now and the Fall. They are all women with 1-2 cats, which is my dream niche, lol. I still work locally (am currently on a sit!) with my paid clients. My best place personally for getting paid clients was FB neighborhood groups. I know South Jersey well and knew the weller-off areas that a.) would not think twice about paying good money for a house-sitter (my rates started at $60/day, now they are $70/day) and b.) would have beautifully kept homes that I would enjoy staying in. So I requested/joined some area/township groups that I knew hit those marks and then would advertise myself creatively. I made a cute flies in Canva with a puppy or my cat (and catchy titles like "Holiday Housesits", etc)and wrote sparkly, emoji laced copy about my services - to stand out in the FB feeds! I basically got like 85% of my clients this way. The rest are word of mouth, people I work with, etc. As a paid housesitter, I also highlighted the special things I offer - like for example, I offer a full energy reading of the home on the initial visit as well as energy clearing of the house, which helps me match well with folks who are into that stuff. And then, when I leave, I always wash all the Guest sheets & towels, and master Towels and leave everything folded hotel style and fresh, I leave them a little Welcome Home gift like flowers or treats, etc. with a card. Once you charm them the first time, they will love you. Most of my local clients have been repeats for the last few years and they are now like family to me! :) And their pets! And lastly! Pro Tip - I'm very picky with who I say yes to! Just thru experience, I've learned what situations I don't want and what works best for me. So, over the years I've gotten better at being very direct with my questions out of the gate, and also during the Meet & Greet, really taking the place in and only saying Yes if I can truly say, I would be excited every time they invited me to sit! So nice to connect here and wishing you many fabulous sits to come!! :)
I did Pet sitting professionally for a couple years, and by far my least favorite part, was having to pack up all my stuff and move to a new place, and being all nervous about it being clean. It seemed like it took several hours to clean it every time.
Thanks for your comment Kai!! When I first read this comment I misread it as “my favorite part…” and not LEAST FAVORITE and I was like “Oh my gosh whatttt whyyyy howwwww.” Totallyyy agree with this, and I basically said the same thing in my part 2 video I made. th-cam.com/video/cu6JjInttDo/w-d-xo.html How did you find your petsitting doing it professionally?
@@marenmakesit Hahahahaha. I started out doing dog walking on the WAG app and just met people from there and did dog walking and pet sitting independently. After a few months on my own, I also did some independent contracting with an established Pet sitting Company in the area. Then I moved to a different state and put out an advertisement on the local online list that most people look at. The advertisement was more for working with animals that were struggling to help them be happier and healthier. However, it ended up being that mostly what people wanted was dog walking in Pet sitting. The business built really quickly because there was so much demand and my reputation got around. I didn’t really want to build a pet sitting business with employees and I was getting sick of doing it myself so I decided to go back to working with humans. There is certainly a lot of money to be made with Pet sitting though, especially if you can find quality people to work for you doing the pet sits. I also worked with traumatized dogs to help them be happier and healthier.
The key was though that I wasn’t doing it just to have a business. I saw so many animals being mistreated and living unhappily without their needs being fully met. I wanted to change the way humans viewed and treated animals on a global level. After a while I didn’t think I was being effective enough with that business because the humans were either already respectful of animals, or unwilling to change if they weren’t. There’s also a lot of nuance to understanding that each animal is a unique individual and has different needs and desires and it’s important to meet those needs and desires. Not everyone sees this or is willing to do what is needed for the animal to have a good quality of life. A lot of people just want to have a pet so they can feel better themselves and don’t truly care about that pet’s well being. Also, a lot of people (understandably in the world we live in) don’t know how to take care of themselves to the fullest extent and therefore aren’t equipped to truly meet the needs of a dependent.
@@kaisnow7661 these are some WISE WORDS if I ever read them right here. First of all, thanks so much for sharing your story of how you built that business for yourself. It’s absolutely true that a good reputation and being trustworthy gets around…especially since people are trusting their PET and ACCESS to basically everything they own and their home to you. It’s something I do think about quite a bit since the premise of Trusted Housesitters is not getting paid.
@@kaisnow7661 Second of all, I commend and respect your reasons for doing what you do. It sounds like you’re truly the person that doesn’t just want to take care of someone’s pet while they are gone, but wants to change that animal’s life for the better. I can also see how difficult that could be as a business because people don’t understand it and it takes a time investment to get to know an animal and their situation and understand what would even help them. Third, so many people don’t know how to even take care of themselves - HAH so true! I thought about getting my own pet so many times before I started traveling and housesitting, but I kept telling myself this exact thing. Like I’m a young adult struggling enough with adult responsibilities and having a pet is a big (and long term) commitment and responsibility-financially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. If I’m not sure I’m ready or able to give that animal that, then I’m not ready for a pet. That animal deserves better than the life I can give it right now. Sadly, many people don’t put that much thought into their decision to have a pet though in terms of the time their willing to put in - not just now but over the next 10-20 years. It’s such a big commitment.
Use the link below to join TrustedHousesitters with a 25% discount & use code MAREN25 at checkout! trustedhousesitters.pxf.io/da55ZQ
Hi Maren!
Loved your video and I am similiar in some sense that I try to stay local-ish to South Jersey due to "my life" mostly being in this area. And I'm exactly the same when making myself comfortable in a new sit - I have my packing down to a science and definitely arrange the home/kitchen and my work space to work for me while I'm there - first thing! It was refreshing to hear someone's similiar experience because out here on the East Coast, this way of living is WAY LESS common!
I've been sitting for private/paid clients for 4 years and only this summer season have hopped on TH. I got 1 sit within the first week which was amazing. I'm also pretty picky and prefer a cat-only sit, but we shall see!
Thanks so much for your down to earth-ness! Happy you popped up on my screen!
Hi KellySue,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I am originally from western Connecticut actually, so not too far from you.
So cool to hear about another person living this way... even in the "west", it's not like I'm exactly running into others on the street that are doing this haha.
How were you previously finding your paid clients?
Congrats on your 1st successful sit through THS!! It sounds like you got it really quickly too. I hope you have many more good experiences to come! The supply/demand is so different depending on location and season, so in my experience that will influence how picky you can be regarding just cats if you want to stick with THS.
I appreciate you and your comment! I love this part of TH-cam where I get to hear about other people's experiences.
@@marenmakesit Hi Maren!
So cool that you are originally an East Coaster!
Since that comment, I now have lined up 3 really great matches on TH between now and the Fall. They are all women with 1-2 cats, which is my dream niche, lol.
I still work locally (am currently on a sit!) with my paid clients. My best place personally for getting paid clients was FB neighborhood groups. I know South Jersey well and knew the weller-off areas that a.) would not think twice about paying good money for a house-sitter (my rates started at $60/day, now they are $70/day) and b.) would have beautifully kept homes that I would enjoy staying in.
So I requested/joined some area/township groups that I knew hit those marks and then would advertise myself creatively. I made a cute flies in Canva with a puppy or my cat (and catchy titles like "Holiday Housesits", etc)and wrote sparkly, emoji laced copy about my services - to stand out in the FB feeds!
I basically got like 85% of my clients this way. The rest are word of mouth, people I work with, etc.
As a paid housesitter, I also highlighted the special things I offer - like for example, I offer a full energy reading of the home on the initial visit as well as energy clearing of the house, which helps me match well with folks who are into that stuff. And then, when I leave, I always wash all the Guest sheets & towels, and master Towels and leave everything folded hotel style and fresh, I leave them a little Welcome Home gift like flowers or treats, etc. with a card. Once you charm them the first time, they will love you.
Most of my local clients have been repeats for the last few years and they are now like family to me! :) And their pets!
And lastly! Pro Tip - I'm very picky with who I say yes to! Just thru experience, I've learned what situations I don't want and what works best for me. So, over the years I've gotten better at being very direct with my questions out of the gate, and also during the Meet & Greet, really taking the place in and only saying Yes if I can truly say, I would be excited every time they invited me to sit!
So nice to connect here and wishing you many fabulous sits to come!! :)
Love love love your videos Maren❤
Thank you sweet friend for all your kind & supportive comments 💗
I did Pet sitting professionally for a couple years, and by far my least favorite part, was having to pack up all my stuff and move to a new place, and being all nervous about it being clean. It seemed like it took several hours to clean it every time.
Thanks for your comment Kai!! When I first read this comment I misread it as “my favorite part…” and not LEAST FAVORITE and I was like “Oh my gosh whatttt whyyyy howwwww.” Totallyyy agree with this, and I basically said the same thing in my part 2 video I made. th-cam.com/video/cu6JjInttDo/w-d-xo.html
How did you find your petsitting doing it professionally?
@@marenmakesit
Hahahahaha.
I started out doing dog walking on the WAG app and just met people from there and did dog walking and pet sitting independently. After a few months on my own, I also did some independent contracting with an established Pet sitting Company in the area.
Then I moved to a different state and put out an advertisement on the local online list that most people look at. The advertisement was more for working with animals that were struggling to help them be happier and healthier. However, it ended up being that mostly what people wanted was dog walking in Pet sitting. The business built really quickly because there was so much demand and my reputation got around. I didn’t really want to build a pet sitting business with employees and I was getting sick of doing it myself so I decided to go back to working with humans.
There is certainly a lot of money to be made with Pet sitting though, especially if you can find quality people to work for you doing the pet sits.
I also worked with traumatized dogs to help them be happier and healthier.
The key was though that I wasn’t doing it just to have a business. I saw so many animals being mistreated and living unhappily without their needs being fully met. I wanted to change the way humans viewed and treated animals on a global level.
After a while I didn’t think I was being effective enough with that business because the humans were either already respectful of animals, or unwilling to change if they weren’t.
There’s also a lot of nuance to understanding that each animal is a unique individual and has different needs and desires and it’s important to meet those needs and desires. Not everyone sees this or is willing to do what is needed for the animal to have a good quality of life. A lot of people just want to have a pet so they can feel better themselves and don’t truly care about that pet’s well being.
Also, a lot of people (understandably in the world we live in) don’t know how to take care of themselves to the fullest extent and therefore aren’t equipped to truly meet the needs of a dependent.
@@kaisnow7661 these are some WISE WORDS if I ever read them right here.
First of all, thanks so much for sharing your story of how you built that business for yourself. It’s absolutely true that a good reputation and being trustworthy gets around…especially since people are trusting their PET and ACCESS to basically everything they own and their home to you. It’s something I do think about quite a bit since the premise of Trusted Housesitters is not getting paid.
@@kaisnow7661 Second of all, I commend and respect your reasons for doing what you do. It sounds like you’re truly the person that doesn’t just want to take care of someone’s pet while they are gone, but wants to change that animal’s life for the better. I can also see how difficult that could be as a business because people don’t understand it and it takes a time investment to get to know an animal and their situation and understand what would even help them.
Third, so many people don’t know how to even take care of themselves - HAH so true! I thought about getting my own pet so many times before I started traveling and housesitting, but I kept telling myself this exact thing. Like I’m a young adult struggling enough with adult responsibilities and having a pet is a big (and long term) commitment and responsibility-financially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. If I’m not sure I’m ready or able to give that animal that, then I’m not ready for a pet. That animal deserves better than the life I can give it right now. Sadly, many people don’t put that much thought into their decision to have a pet though in terms of the time their willing to put in - not just now but over the next 10-20 years. It’s such a big commitment.
Thank you 😊
You’re welcome! Appreciate all your comments and hope you had a great weekend.
It’s really hard .
@@chadfox6030 housesitting ? Or what aspect specifically? If there’s anything I can clarify, please let me know.
@@marenmakesit being a black guy and trying to get a single house sit 🤦🏿