Hi everyone. I'm new to http://Rover.com and I had a few questions about the website. I love all animals and when I saw this site I was very interested in seeing what it was about. I'm excited to get started! Is there anything you have to pay for before you can start pet sitting at someone's home or offering animals at your own home? Also, is there anything else I should know when starting my profile? Thank you in advanced!
Welcome to the Rover community!
It is free to start sitting. However, to raise your rating in searches you may want to have a background check, which has a nominal fee attached. Also, earning other badges increases your rating as well (Pet CPR, etc.) and those all have their own costs.
Other things to know when creating your profile: follow the prompts from Rover.com about photos of yourself and your home. Proofread your text several times - I modified mine more than once after spotting typos that were missed.
Once sitting, take lots of pics and send to clients. If you upload through the Rover.com app you can determine whether they are visible to the public or just to your pet parents. (If you upload via text message they will always be visible to everyone.)
Finally, don't be tempted to schedule a stay without a Meet and Greet first. They are very important in confirming that your guests are a good fit for you and your home.
Enjoy and have fun!
Thank you! I'm going to the Veterinary Technician Program in the spring but before then I would love to earn badges. How do I go about doing that? And how do I schedule a Meet and Greet? And also I had a question about the insurance. Do I need to have insurance before I start or how does that work?
There are a number of badges you can get pretty much immediately: complete the Rover 101 training, list organizations you've volunteered with, get the background check completed, purchase the protection package, donate a percentage of your profits to a rescue (or rescues!). If you've taken a pet CPR/first aide course, there's a badge for that as well (and one for being certified).
Nope! Rover makes their money when you do - they get 15% of what you charge your clients. There are services you can pay for, such as the protection package, but that appears as a negative balance on your profile, so instead of paying out of pocket, it is paid off as you begin to book stays. When I began, the only money I paid up front was for my background check (I know for a time they were being offered free, but I'm not sure if that's still the case), which is not required, but it is helpful in starting out and attracting new clients.
When you're putting together your profile, I recommend putting up lots of high quality pictures. You want people to feel comfortable with you even before they meet you, and you want to make pet owners think they're dog will enjoy her time with you. Have one or two people go over the written sections of your profile to proofread for spelling, grammar, etc. Since this is a business page, you want everything to sound professional, but still be warm and friendly. Finally, earn as many badges as you can. They'll help you climb the search rankings, which will get you more exposure to new clients. Then put the word out to draw people in!
Good luck-
Ok sounds good! Thank you for your help :)
Once a prospective client contacts you, you will schedule a meet and greet with them. There is an excellent section in the Sitter's Handbook on topics to cover during the meeting. You schedule the meeting through messages with the client. If everyone agrees, the client books the stay. As far as insurance, Rover provides insurance at no charge to the sitter. There is additional insurance available that you pay for, but just starting out I don't think you'll need it.