Sarah James from Taste of Home Magazine is one of Magnify's favorite users. She is responsible for the content on Taste of Home Magazine's website tasteofhome.com - the very popular website that features easy recipes, home cooking tips, kitchen design insights and diet and nutrition information. Sarah gets curation and has proven herself as one of the most adept curators on the platform. We thought we would ask her to share a little abouther experience for fellow admins looking for tips.

How much time do you spend curating tasteofhome.com?

I really only spend about one week per month curating new videos. I have learned that sources such as Food Network, Kraft, Betty Crocker and others don't upload their new videos until the end or beginning of the month. Because Youtube is mainly our chief supplier of videos, I check their channel pages around those times to see if they've posted anything new.

You guys use both content that you have shot and content that you have discovered from other video sharing sites. How is the combo working out for you?

By using the Magnify (discovery) tool we have only enhanced our site. People come to our site for these other videos. It's easier to find videos to go with our editorial content this way - instead of having to wait to see what the video team shoots. We can also play to the visitors preferences this way. Some like Paula? Ok here are some of her videos. Others like Tyler Florence? Ok we'll have some of him too. You have so many more options by using this tool.

What is your curation process?

When I'm looking for videos I make sure to follow guidelines I came up with in the beginning of this process. I make sure that the videos are well produced, are of good light and sound quality, and are going to be engaging for our visitors. I mainly try to stay within the Food Network, Kraft, Betty Crocker etc  - names that our visitors know and trust. Every once in a while do I stumble upon a new find and that is great!

What is your organizational process?

I try to organize the videos by editorial content and seasonal calendar. I make sure to have the seasonal playlists showcased often and they are the stars of the channel. We want our videos to look good and often they don't have the best images. So I go into our recipe database, find recipe photos that work with the video, pull them out, resize them in Photoshop and then attach them to the video.

What other tools or tricks do you have up your sleeve?

I just try to make sure that our playlists are seasonal, and relevant to editorial content, as well as make sure that we have the best images possible.  By making sure that I have quality videos, images, and romance helps continue to bring high traffic to our pages.

Any advice you would give other channel admins?

Write out what you want your channel to be: this includes playlist titles, video content, etc. This helps create a cohesive and engaging channel.

Thanks Sarah! If anyone has questions for Sarah about how she curates and manages the Taste of Home video channel, shoot me an email at Billy (at) Magnify.net and I will gladly pass it along.