What raising chickens has taught me about pitching

I watched my feathered flock of Ruby, Tallahassee, and Shiloh grow from little chirping fuzzballs to sizeable clucking hens.

Though it appeared that they might never start laying, the past two weeks I have had my fill of farm-fresh eggs. I have found a lot of similarities between raising chickens and pitching stories and news for placement:

Do your research.

Prior to getting chickens, I did a lot of research into raising them. I gathered information on everything I could—from the best breed of chicken for my climate to how long chicks should stay under a heat lamp.

As you begin pitching stories, you have to go through a similar style of research. Subscribe to RSS feeds and look at what content does well on the sites you want to place content on. Do research into the editors and creators of the site. Share their stories on Twitter, or comment on Facebook. A little preparation can go a long way.

Baby chicks need gentle hands.

Baby chicks are delicate. They must have either the warmth of a heat lamp or a mother hen because it’s easy for chicks to get cold.