How To Have A Kick Ass Profile

How To Have A Kick Ass House Sitting ProfileAnd Get the Best House Sitting Gigs Possible! Nat Smith & Jodie BurnhamHouse Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 2

INTRODUCTION Section 1What this course is –This course is about creating your own house sitting profile in such away that it will give you the best chances of being selected by homeowners for more and better quality house sits, ultimately giving you morechoice in where you can travel to and house sit around the world.Yay!This course is about highlighting your best qualities that a home ownermay be looking for in a house sitter, and presenting that through strategicwritten answers to the profile questions and in your profile video, so thatyou professionally present as someone that is more than capable oflooking after the home owners house and pets in their absence.It is about presenting Yourself; your real personality and creating a profilethat truly connects.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 3

It is about being honest about yourself, and also thinking laterally aboutattributes and experiences from your everyday life right now and in yourpast, that you may not have realised actually help you in a house sit, andpresenting that.This course is about creating a tailor made profile that fits you perfectly,and that you feel comfortable knowing you can deliver on during the actualhouse sitting assignment; thus allowing you to feel confident and enjoyyourself more.What this course is not –This course is not about generic answers to profile questions that really donot pertain to you or your situation.It is also not about ‘making up’ attributes, experiences or references just tobe successful.Remember, you have to be able to deliver on what you present in yourprofile! Now let’s get you started on building your very own KickassHouse Sitting Profile, so you can get out and start doing some of those awesome house sitting assignments on offer around the world!House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 4

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HOUSE SITTING PROFILE Section 2Without a profile it will be almost impossible to get house sittingassignments on any of the main match making sites. Instead you will haveto rely on word of mouth from friends, family and contacts.Alternatively (or in addition) you may also have your own domain andwebsite with your profile up to then promote yourself.Either way a profile becomes important if you want to move out of thecircle of purely having referrals through close friends and relations, andespecially if you want to expand internationally with a choice ofassignments.Putting time and effort into your profile yields MASSIVE results whenit comes to house sitting, and creating a choice of house sits andtherefore travel locations for yourself.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 5

After all, a profile is ALL the home owner has to go on until they speak withyou.Writing something like a profile doesn’t come easy to all people, especiallywhen you have to talk about yourself. But this is not the time to be coyabout your talents and what you bring to the table for home owners.Nor do you want to take the other stand & become completely egotistical,or mention things that are simply not true just to be successful.You are looking for the balance; a factual, simple representation of yourkey points and experiences, with an over tone of self-confidence andcapability. Sounds more like a cake mix!! ☺SOME REALLY IMPORTANT PSYCHOLOGY NOTESBroadly speaking, we have found the main keys to writing are: 1.Write from the heart with enthusiasm for house sitting 2.Put some planning into it 3.Think about what the home owner would want to know 4.Then write it from their point of viewThis last point is essential.A lot of people write their profile from their own point of view as a housesitter talking about how they would love to travel and see different places.But your profile is essentially a sales pitch… or a job resume if you like thatanalogy better!In fact from now on, think of your profile as a job resume (which essen-tially it is!) so you easily have the mindset of how to write it.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 6

Like all sales and marketing, and in life in general, people want to know thebig question ‘what’s in it for me?’ Home owners are really no different.You need to answer in your own mind the questions - Why should thishome owner have YOU as their sitter? What do YOU bring to the table andoffer in benefit to them? How can YOU be of service?What is far more successful than writing your profile all about you, is toreally take the time to feel into what it would be like to be a homeowner wanting someone to come in and care for your home and petswhile you are away.What things would you want to read on a profile that would make you feelsecure and comfortable having a particular house sitter in your home?What benefits would you look for them to bring you?Remember the age-old buyer psychology here… people do not buy‘qualities’ of a particular thing (or person in this case), they buy benefits.For example, we do not buy a vacuum just because we want to own avacuum. We buy it for its benefits, what it can do for us. Having a vacuummeans we do not have to get down on our hands and knees and pick upeverything from the floor! It is quick, reliable, provides instant results, andsaves us time and effort. These are benefits to a vacuum, and these arewhy you actually buy it.Your profile is the same. Sell the benefits of choosing you.We will go into more of this in our next module on ‘House Sitter Qualities’,but for now just keep in mind the angle you will be writing from.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 7

Okay, some other quick important points to finish off this module…Most house sits will involve looking after pets, but not all. Since themajority do though, it is advisable to write your profile expecting this to bethe case.Remember, the home owner takes great risk in having, in most cases, a‘stranger’ come into their home and look after their prized possessions. Soas a house sitter you must make them feel at ease, both in your profileand when you get to the house sit.The home owner wants to take their leave knowing that you are capableand responsible so they can relax and focus on their time away. After all,that is their purpose of getting house sitters in the first place!And it is this certainty you must give, starting in your profile.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 8

House Sitter Qualities Section 3To be seen as successful house sitters in the eyes of our home owners,and even to ourselves, there have been certain inherent ‘qualities’ we haveneeded, and needed to develop.It is interesting to note here too (yes a bit more psychology!) that byacknowledging your own qualities (not from ego but a deep knowing), yourconfidence goes way up, not only when applying, but also when perform-ing the house sit.And it is ‘knowing with certainty’ that you possess these qualities thatcomes across to home owners, and their neighbours and friends; whichnot only gets you house sitting assignments in the first place, but has themall asking you back and giving you some awesome referral gigs.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 9

It is this ‘knowing’ that has been a key point for us in getting back-to-backhouse sits around the world.Knowing who we are, and what qualities we uniquely bring to each andevery house sit, with certainty.GENERIC HOUSE SITTER QUALITIESThe following are generic qualities to feel into and see if they relate to you.Notice these are not specific ‘skills’ like being able to deadhead roses or fixa toilet.Although your ‘skills’ are important, they will come into your profile later on.However for now, let’s focus on these generic qualities.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 10

The following are all top house sitter ‘qualities’ that that are worth keepingin mind, and putting somewhere in your profile to show that you arecapable of fulfilling the role (but only if they describe you of course):✓ A Lover of animals✓ Responsible✓ Capable of handling day to day tasks & emergencies✓ Lateral and creative thinker✓ Ability to think on your feet✓ Flexible and adaptable✓ Good leader, have presence & command respect✓ Tolerating of others differences✓ Fastidious - eg cleanliness, hygiene, doing chores✓ Attention to detail✓ Organised✓ Respectful of others possessions & treat them as your own✓ Respectful of others privacy & security mindedThese are mind joggers for you as they are qualities we have found wehave needed, or feel are important in house sitting. It is not an exhaustivelist and some many not even resonate for you, so get creative with yourown.Most importantly you need to resonate fully with what you write aboutyourself as ultimately you may need to live up to it!House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 11

PHOTOSSection 4Most sites will give you the ability to put up at least some photos, butusually not a lot, so make them count!Photos are a great way for a home owner to connect with you and startthat trust process. Think of profiles of people online. Do you attract more toprofiles that have a photo of the person than one that does not? This is thesame.As with this whole process, think about the home owner: ✓ Please do yourself a favour and make sure they are clear shots that are not too distant… you don’t want a home owner having to get their glasses to see you! ✓ They will want to see a shot of you that is clear and probably up close so they can properly put a face to a name and profile.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 12

✓ They will want to see any other people that are also applying for the house sit, whether it be your partner, family or friend. If you are applying together make that known and up front.✓ Have shots of you with animals; various pets you have looked after or have experience in. A good range of pets/animals is best if you can do it.✓ Alternatively (or in addition) have you in the garden, cleaning a pool or fixing something around the home.✓ Try to make the shots in-situ where you can, that are not set up. Set up photos are usually pretty obviously set up and they can look really fake!House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 13

YOUR PROFILE HEADLINE Section 5This is the first thing that home owners see of your profile when yourespond to an assignment, so make it short, punchy and factual.Really, a good profile headline benefits both you & the home owner alike.Like any headline you read in a newspaper, you want a good summary, sohome owners know exactly who you are and what you offer, without theneed to read past your headline.As always think of the process the home owner has to go through.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 14

When you have 30, 40 or even 100 applications to your house sittingassignment, as a home owner you have a lot of work on your hands goingthrough them all and choosing someone.So make it as easy as possible for them (and for yourself in the process!).Wordy headings that use flowery soft terms, like all marketing, losepeople quickly no matter how good your profile is.Time and time again, we have seen people’s profile headlines that say‘Responsible trustworthy experienced sitters for you ’ or ‘Honest reliablecouple for your pets’.While all these qualities might be true, and we are not condemning this atall, when a home owner sees profile after profile with this type of headlinewith no real gutsy information at all about the person as an individual, itgets rather repetitive and no one really stands out instantly.At the end of the day, this type of headline really tells the home ownernothing about you as an individual that might catch their attention. It iseasy to just write these qualities, and really these are qualities you shouldhave as a minimum as a house sitter!In fact if anything this type of headline can sound salesy and off putting.Instead, the better idea is to sum up who you are, and any key pointsthat support your applications… make it more factual than flowery.Here is an example using our current profile headline:‘Mid 40 Female Couple, Full-time International house sitters sinceearly 2013, with Resort Management & Australian Federal PoliceBackgrounds’While this heading is somewhat wordy, it does give instant informationabout us, which pretty much sums up who we are and what we offer.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 15

From this headline home owners can readily see, or at least makenatural assumptions about: • Our age - Obviously we are not young people who might party all night in their house. Chances are we are mature, and by this age have probably had our own home at some stage, rented for awhile, or at least know how to run a household. • We are a couple, so there will be two of us doing the assignment which maybe an important factor for someone who has a larger property or pets that are hard to manage. We are also a same sex couple, so if people have issues with that then they have the choice not to read on. It may also mean that if there are heavier duties around a house sit that specifically require a male to handle, we may not fit the bill. • We are full time house sitters, so we are pretty serious about house sitting, and probably know a lot about it. • We are international house sitters, so we probably know a lot about how to deal with different locations, climates, cultures, languages, currencies, cuisines etc. • We have been sitting full-time since early 2013, so we have probably looked after various pets during our time, have loads of experience, and can successfully manage different house sits. • And our backgrounds – With a resort management background we will be well versed in looking after and managing accommodation; and with a police background we can be fully trusted, a leader that can take command, act well in emergencies, have a police check obviously, and will be very security aware.Notice that our whole headline demonstrates qualities a home ownerwould look for in a good house sitter. This is the key!Now, do not panic if you feel you do not have these same qualities. As anex-resort manager and Federal Police agent we know we are blessed tohave a profile that must look fairly good to home owners ☺House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 16

But the point is everyone, including you, brings something to a housesit. Something that is natural to you, that you have learned in your careeror life, that would benefit a home owner. The key is to find those gems andpresent them well.Have a good think about what qualities might grab home ownersattention with what you have to offer, and write up your headline.Don’t get too caught up in trying to get it right the first time. Writingheadlines is known as ‘copywriting’ in the marketing industry, and it is ahighly paid skill for a reason… it is not easy!We have taken a long time to get the flow of words that sums ‘us’ up andwe have changed it many times.Play around, get creative, mix up words and see what flows best.Also have a look at other peoples profile headlines on the house sittingplatforms that strike you as informative, and use the same template foryours. Even follow ours if it resonates. Remember, you do not have tostress over it or reinvent the wheel here!To help you, here are some attributes you could consider including inyour headline:• Your age - Eg: young & vibrant, or mature with life experience• Are you a couple, family or single person house sitting?• Your profession or past profession• That you work online - so you will be home with the pets more often• Previous house sitting experience• Pervious travel experience• Previous pet experience• Cooking abilities – seems like a strange one but we looked after a B&B in Canada and got paid for it, all because of Jodie’s background in resort management.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 17

The Profile Introduction Section 6This is really an extension of the heading, a summary explanation of whoyou are and your circumstances.Ideally an introduction should be one to three paragraphs in length.Some people only put in a sentence or two in this section, which really isnot using this space effectively.So things to consider putting in this section…Tell them a little about yourself – 18 ✓ Where you live ✓ Do you rent or own your own home? ✓ Your work ✓ Family (if you are applying as a family) ✓ Any hobbies that might be relevant eg: gardening ✓ Do you have extensive travel experience?House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit

Would you be at home often with their pets? ✓ If you work online or are retired, point this out as you will be usually around the home most days, which owners love!State preferences for countries or regions you will house sit in ifapplicable, and… ✓ How available are you? ✓ Are you a full time house sitter, or only have your holidays from work available? ✓ If you know your free dates then list these – this goes for full time house sitters if you are relatively booked up, or your holiday dates if you are part-time.Be upfront about your own essential needsIn our own profile introduction we have stated that we work online and assuch must have internet, preferably unlimited high speed Wi-Fi. We havestated this up front because if a home owner does not have this, then thereis no point them reading on as we could not take the assignment.Similarly, if there are things that you require or preclude you, eitherpersonally or for business to take the assignment, here in the introductionis a good place to state it. ✓ Do you need a vehicle for something e.g. a medical condition ✓ Do you have allergies to certain animals? ✓ Are you incapacitated in some way that precludes you from certain activities like gardening or mowing?Finally, mention that previous house sitting and/or personalreferences, and professional certificates (if applicable) are available eitheron the site or on request, along with referees contact details if a homeowner would like to contact them.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 19

WHY I WANT TO HOUSE SIT Section 7This question may vary from site to site (some platforms do not ask thisquestion), but either way it is a great question to think about, firstly foryourself, and also the home owner no matter what platform you are on.This question gets you to really dive in and ask what sort of experienceyou want from your house sitting assignments. House sitting is not all justabout having a cheap holiday or free place to stay while traveling… it is somuch richer than that.From the home owners perspective your answer to this question givesthem an indication about how serious you are about house sitting… andnot just using it to have a good time in their home for free!House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 20

For example, if you say you want to house sit so you can be out sightseeing wherever you are, then this may not resonate for the owners. Notsaying that you can never get out and do things in the local area, butowners do want to know that you care about looking after their pets andhome too!Or if you say that you are house sitting as you want a cheap holiday, oreven that you just love travel, then this may not be exactly the answer ahome owner is looking for either. Again think of the home owner!So how to answer this question?Here is a part extract from our answer to this profile question, as anexample to help you with the tone and angle:‘House sitting is an incredible full-time lifestyle for us, combining so manythings we love. We absolutely adore the company of pets to break up ourwork life and enrich our experience, and enjoy constantly experiencingdifferent locations, communities, and cultures of the world.Ultimately, we find ourselves at this stage in our lives really desiring notjust to travel, but live for short periods in different locations around theworld for our own enriching experiences, and also facilitate our work.’House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 21

Here are some more suggestions about WHY you might want tohouse sit… ✓ You love the company of animals and miss them when you do not have them around. ✓ You have your own pets and would love the chance to look after someone else’s when you go away. ✓ You really want to experience looking after different pets eg: farm animals. ✓ You love to meet new people and really desire to meet the locals and community in different locations. ✓ It will help with your work in some way eg: Photography, the writing of a book, writing your blog etc. ✓ You want to explore different places, and you love how house sitting is a slow and more in depth way of doing that. ✓ You want to experience living like a local for a period of time which you just cannot do when you travel like a tourist. ✓ You want to truly experience different cultures for a period. ✓ You want to explore different cuisines. ✓ You would love to teach your skills to the locals or do some volunteering in different areas. ✓ To enrich your life in some way. ✓ You want a new experience than just experiencing a place out of a hotel room window. ✓ You want something different and more personal than just holidaying in resorts & hotels.These sorts of answers are far more enticing to a home owner thansimply saying ‘I want a free holiday in your home!’House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 22

WHAT I BRING TO THE ASSIGNMENT& RELEVANT EXPERIENCE Section 8No matter what platform you are on, all profiles have to contain this mostimportant part.Really this is the crux of your whole profile and where you will sellyourself the most.The basic rule here is you can never put in enough experience! And thatexperience can be from all sorts of areas of your life including your work,previous jobs, your pets, courses you may have done, hobbies… and sothe list goes on.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 23

So, the following is a list of questions that might spark someideas that would be relevant to answer in this section.Of course all will need elaboration in your own words:Do you:• Love keeping active?• Love pets?• Love walking dogs?• Love the outdoors?• Love to clean?• Love to potter in the garden?• Great at fixing things around the house?• Do you have hobbies that help in a house sit?Your Pets:• Do you have your own pets?• If so what are they?• How many?• What do you have to do for them on a daily basis?• Will you need to bring your pets with you on the sit?Others Pets and Experience:• What other pets have you looked after before (even as a kid) or have experience in?• Example: Have you ridden horses regularly?• Or did someone you know have a farm full of animals when you were growing up that you spent time at?House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 24

Pet Training:• Have you been to dog or other animal training at any stage?• Pet first aid or care courses?• What did you learn? Pet Health Care: •Do you have experience in giving animals medication? •Dealing with sickness or injuries they may have? •What about blind or deaf animals?Your Work Experience:• This is a big one to think about… How would your current or past careers help you in being a great house sitter?• Have you learned to be really organised?• Have great attention to detail?• Respond well in an emergency?• Be security conscious?• Be tolerant to deal with all types of people?• Think laterally and creatively?• Be flexible and adaptable?House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 25

Previous House Sitting Experience:• Have you house sat before?• If so, how many?• List the places• What pets did you have to look after?• Any unusual things that you had to do or experience?• And in what types of environments? Eg: tropical, country, city, remote, jungle, desert/outback, snow? (Many home owners worry about how house sitters will cope if they are in extreme locations or climates, or in remote locations with no neighbours around, especially if you are single).Your Current and Previous Domestic Situations:• Do you own your own home or have you before?• Do you have an investment property or owned one before?• Do you rent? What do you have to do at that property? What has the owner or landlord said about your ability to look after the property?• All of these show that you have looked after your own or someone else’s property and are capable of running a household.House Maintenance: 26• Are you capable of basic house maintenance?• Can you clear sink pipes?• Unblock a toilet?• Respond to unexpected things that need to doing around home?• What have you had to tackle before?House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit

Pools:• Have you had your own pool?• Do you have experience with pool maintenance?• Can you clean a pool?• Do you have experience in adding pool chemicals?• Was/is it unusually large or take a lot of maintenance?• What types of pools: chlorine, salt, Jacuzzi?Gardens / Plants:• Have you looked after yours or someone else’s plants?• Indoor or outdoors?• Do you have a green thumb?• Anything in particular you have looked after that was difficult or unique?• Do you have experience in pruning?• Mowing lawns?• Weeding? Weed wacking?• Dead heading roses?• Looking after vegetable gardens?• Greenhouses?• Irrigation?House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 27

Security:• Have you been in the police, emergency services or military?• Any previous security type work or experience?• Any time in your personal or work life where you have had to handle sensitive or private information or material?• Do you have a security clearance?• Do you have a police clearance?• Do you, or have you owned anything particularly valuable, rare or that required special care.• Have you had to look after something like that at work or for a family member or friend?•• Have you worked in a bank or where you have had to handle money?• Assure the owners that their home and pets will remain secure and their privacy maintained while you are in their home… if that is indeed true!House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 28

POLICE CHECKS Section 9Many house sitting sites will ask you if you have a police check, and this issomething you indicate on your profile.While it is not mandatory to have one, as you can imagine a home ownerwould more than likely prefer to use a house sitter that has one, thansomeone that has not.Police checks vary from country to country, and not all countries canprovide them.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 29

Below are some links for various countries -For Australian Citizens -Visit http://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/police-checks.aspxFor UK citizens -You need a ‘basic disclosure’ check which you can get from DisclosureScotland, an agency covering the whole of the UKhttp://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/apply-online/For US citizens -https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/legal-matters/criminal-record-check.htmlFor New Zealand citizens -http://www.justice.govt.nz/services/criminal-recordsFor Canadian Citizens -http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/fing-empr2-eng.htmFor German Citizens -http://www.bka.de/In most countries there will also be companies that can facilitate theprocess for you, giving you all the forms to fill out and liaising with theauthorities to obtain the check. You may pay a bit for them so it is personalchoice if you use such a service.Either way this can be a lengthy process so it might be best to get on withthis step ASAP while preparing the rest of your profile.House Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 30

In Closing..Well that’s it for your profile! Yay!! ☺If you have been following along and filling our your profile as youwent, you would be pretty much finished.With the comprehensive profile you now have (or about to have) youcan apply and take assignments with confidence, knowing that youhave presented yourself honestly and professionally, as the uniqueindividual you are!Have fun out there!Nat & Jodie xHouse Sitting Academy - Setup to Stand Out Kit 31