Writing about yourself can feel challenging and maybe even a little awkward, but your bio is an important opportunity to introduce yourself to prospective cat parents and share what you bring to the table. Read our tips below on ideas to consider and things to skip so you can put your best paw forward when writing your bio!
It's About You!
The best way to help your profile stand out is to write an engaging and informative bio that is purrsonal to you. This is your chance to share a little about what makes you you, and a lot about your love of cats! Your bio helps prospective cat parents learn more about your cat-related or transfurrable skills, how well your schedule and area might fit their needs, and if your purrsonalities might be a good match!
One important thing to consider in your bio is to be honest. Are you looking to gain more experience with cats after having only casually cat-sat for family and friends? Great! Have you always wanted to meet as many cats as possible because they're simply the best? Us too!
It's okay if you do not have professional cat experience or many years of volunteering at a shelter under your belt. What the community has in common is wanting to help cats get the best care! Your bio helps cat parents see what you bring to the table in achieving that.
Ideas some find helpful
Use spell check. While it can't catch everything, it can help with some things that are easy to miss when you're so focused on creating excellent content!
Ask a trusted friend or colleague to read it over - Fresh eyes often see things we might have missed after staring at our own work for a while. Ask someone you trust to read it over; they might catch an error or have a suggestion on how to include more of your purrsonality since they know you well!
Aim for 300 words! Many successful sitters on Meowtel typically have bios that are 300 words or longer. Why? Because writing a detailed and keyword-rich bio gives your listing an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) boost, meaning it's more likely to appear at the top of search results when cat parents are searching for the purrfect sitter. An SEO boost means more visibility and more visibility means more potential bookings!
Consider breaking your bio into paragraphs, or use bullet points. We all get overwhelmed when we see a huge chunk of text, so help yourself and your readers by breaking it down.
How to Start
If you're feeling at a wall with how to begin, start with writing about your own cats! Tell us about their names, their personalities, and how you give them the best care - then you're off to the races and already showing us some awesome insight into you!
Topics to Consider
As an independent contractor, you have full control over how you present your business. These tips are from experienced sitters - how you run your business is up to you. Here are some topics that many sitters find helpful to include:
Your goals as an independent sitter - This is where you can help prospective cat parents learn about what makes you so excited to cat-sit and what you love most about cats (OK, we realize that last point might put you over the 300-word goal by A LOT, so try to keep your love for cats contained within a paw-ful of sentences).
Your approach to meeting new cats
Your experience as a cat sitter, shelter or humane society volunteer (if any)
Your cat medication experience (ointments, eye/ear drops, oral medications, insulin injections, sub Q fluids)
How you approach cat parent instructions
Your schedule availability and service area
Any health and safety precautions you take within cat parents' homes
Your purrsonality - This is where you can give cat parents a glimpse into what makes you you! You can share your hobbies, interests, background, or fun facts about yourself. Be creative!
Things Some Sitters Skip
Offering services that aren't supported by the platform's booking tools (like boarding, kenneling, grooming, bathing, or nail trimming)
Promoting unrelated products or services
Linking to other booking platforms
Listing unaffiliated testimonials or reviews of your services from other sites
Including social media handles, excessive use of social media abbreviations and emojis, or any links to individual content such as but not limited to blog posts, YouTube channels, personal websites, etc.
Including personal contact information like your email address or phone number (to keep communication secure on the platform)
Detailed descriptions of cat loss or illness. It's totally OK to mention how the cats you've loved have informed your kitty care, your medication experience, and your possible motivations to cat-sit. Since pet loss is a painful topic for all of us, we just recommend keeping your bio as paw-sitive as possible.
It's Not About Purrfection - It's About Trust
Writing a bio is about creating an authentic representation of yourself to prospective cat parents, so it's OK if you aren't purrfect (only the cats are 😻). Cat parents want to know that you're reliable, professional, and communicative! They want to see that you're a unique individual who they feel they can get to know. So don't stress; start writing, and tell us about what a cool cat you are!
Picture by calicodesign from Pixabay
Ready to show off your purr-sonality? Update your Meowtel profile today!
