Hi Rover team,
I haven't gotten any dog requests in a while. Are things slowing down now that the summer is coming to an end, or could there be some other reason for this? Just curious.
Thanks so much, Marianne
I really don't know why but I haven't had a request for a month and I have nice photos and 12 5-star reviews. I only do housesitting and drop-in visits, but still; it's very very slow.
This fall has been slower, but we were full all summer. It's been nice to have a slower pace. That said, every weekend we have filled up with last-minute bookings, Thamksgiving is full, and Christmas is half booked.
Last year Sep-Nov were really slow for me, but then I had a boarder over Thanksgiving and over Christmas. This year I was unavailable for all of October, but September was busy and November is almost full. So I think once school starts, things tend to slow down for us pet sitters until the holidays. The fact that you only offer house sitting and drop in visits may be limiting your client base as well.
What do you mean? I offer boarding and day care, as well as drop in visits and house sitting.
Oops, I accidentally clicked on Sarah's link, not yours. My apologies.
Phew, I got worried. Thanks for clarifying :)
Yeah, only offering house sitting and drop ins limits my client base but my dog started hating the boarder dogs so I don't have a choice unfortunately. I would ideally do boarding. But honestly even when I did boarding I didn't get too much business. I think my area is just weird.
The sitters immediately around me don't seem to do too much business either.
From what I've heard, September and October are typically slow for most sitters. I'm surprised that I've had back to back house sitting stays this month, otherwise I'd only have a few walks here and there (I've been active on Rover for almost a year). The holidays get busy though, so you may want to think about your Thanksgiving week and Christmas/New Year's availability now.
We got hit HARD with requests this past week, but now it's totally died for me. I haven't had an empty house in two months, but now there's no business at all. I guess this is just a slow time right now before the holidays hit.
Adjusting your rates can help. I changed mine from 35 to 30 for overnight stays and within two days got a booking request!
Make sure your calendar is up-to-date and put your link on Craigslist :) The holidays are coming up, I'm sure you'll be hit up soon! Maybe lower your rate a buck or two if you have a lot of sitters in your area for a short time. Good luck!