Sharing what makes us unique and getting across our whole story is an important step to snagging the right hosts. We do our best by being thorough in our host searches (read Finding Hosts). I hope that the following elements help you in your search for a host.

We want hosts who value our mission. The best way to do that is through communication. We have three elements that contribute to getting our story across and starting a conversation: Our Intro letter, our profile page and this blog.

Intro Letter

The first impression comes in the form of our intro letter. It has four different parts. I customize it in different areas to show the hosts I have read their profiles and understand their needs. The intro letter is about the hosts and their needs, as much as it is about describing us.

The introduction to the letter confirms I have read their profile. I also add to the intro that there are FIVE of us. As great as our kids are I need to make sure there are no surprises later on. Next I give them an out “Please read my message below and let me know if you think we would be a good fit or not“. This is where I really want to write, “It is okay to say ‘no’, PLEASE just respond to me”.

The second section is a bit of a copy/paste. It describes our trip and the goal of immersing our children in other cultures. It takes up four sentences worth of writing real estate and is important because it lays out the Why of what we’re doing.

The third section is made up of a few paragraphs. It starts off by telling them what we will be doing before we get to them. Next it offers hosts ideas about how we can work in the “Help” areas they have posted. We do have our skills and interests posted in our profile but this is where I confirm again that I have read their profile. I also write a short section about the kids. Then somewhere I add in that we would love to “cook our favourite vegetarian dishes for them”. I don’t want our dietary choices to be a surprise.

I close out the fourth section by mentioning that we are a musical family. We’re always hopeful that we will be able to get violins and cellos for the kids to keep practicing on. We actually have a host that has offered to lend us a violin and cello during our stay.

Before the signature I post this blog’s main address as a “learn more about us”. Then I hit send.

I then sit back and wait for a response. I am in the habit of contacting one host every other day. I don’t want to ever have to tell a host that we have had a better offer. To date I have sent out 15 messages, and received 8 responses. We have had two hosts contact us out of the blue and offer us a place. Unfortunately we already had a host lined up for those countries and time.

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Profile Page

The second way we aim to make a positive impression is through our WorkAway.info profile page. It is all about us. This snapshot of our family answers standard WorkAway questions. I guess it is a good way for Hosts to compare us to other Workaway-ers.

I imagine hosts use the profile page the same way I use their page. I have important points I check off first before I dig into their Description and perhaps they have the same.

Information included in the profile page covers:

• WorkAwayer Description
• Preset Interests list
• Skills and Knowledge
• Languages
• Age

It also has our destinations and pictures of us. I’ve tried to really talk up our skills in that section. I feel like we’re already very handy. In life if we haven’t had a skill we’ve learned the skills to tackle any issue.

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This Blog

Finally, THIS Blog provides info about us, our plans, and adventures. It isn’t targeted at hosts. It’s primarily purpose sharing our experiences with friends and family. I always point hosts here (yes they may even read THIS post) in the introductory letter. Hopefully hosts can come here to learn more about us before they take the leap of contacting us. If hosts want to dig deeper to get to know us this Blog will give them another way to understand us.

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It may feel like getting a host is impossible. The time zone differences we are dealing with usually means there is at least a day delay in responses. Evening here is early morning in GMT. I have 6/15 messages showing they haven’t even been read on the WorkAway.info site (they could have received the email). I think this is all normal though. Don’t be discouraged. Find your best fit and connect with them.

Once again I hope this is helpful to everyone out there. If you have questions about what I have written or would like to see an example of our letter send me an email or tweet me at @mraaronball.