Daryl,
I sooo much want to disagree with you!  I think maybe some of what you are saying is correct but feel it promotes the idea that you can put any old junk up on YouTube and be successful. I had mentioned Just Bob earlier and I don't think that is junk. I can see that the programs are thought out and that there is talent behind it. Organic it is but I still feel it is professional.

Perhaps some idiot with a hammer hitting himself over the head with a hammer would get a ton of hits but is it really lasting? Could he make a career out of it or does it just give him his 15 minutes of fame.

While 13 - 26 perhaps is the largest base on YouTube there are the rest of us watching it also. I feel it is wrong to discount that audience. Could be I am just still upset that Harry's Law got cancelled because they thought the viewer base was too old.

I think that ultimately time is the key. Unless it is a one hit wonder situation it is going to take time to pick up steam. Our little site here too some time to build up to what it is today. It still may not be the biggest or get the most hits but I would bet that the user base of Puppets and Stuff is stronger then some of the sites that get more hits.

More then anything I want to encourage people to do quality work that is lasting... I am real tired of reality TV.

I found this, maybe it is helpful?
http://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/playbook.html
For some reasons my crane vid (posting the link again in case you want to see it)

was mostly watched by women between 35 and 44 (81.9%)- but then again- only 711 people watched it and it's been online since February, so I can hardly talk...

Thanks Shawn.  I wanted my show to have a throw back feel sort of like Pee Wee Herman. Weather I'm succeeding or not is up for opinion however I know we are all competing with digital gaming and reality stunts. I think we have to stand for more than what's being offered.  A real shame about Harry's Law. Why NBC would want to lose a quality actor and show is beyond me.  They're last daytime soap DOOL is hanging on by a thread with the today show waiting to grab another hour of non news, or another Oprah wanna be in the wings. I grew up watching creative local programming (lots of puppets back then). Now they have extended the news. Cable was mandated to offer free local access. It was fun to watch but a few years ago they put the channel in a place that no one would find it, so no one sees it.  I think we need to be an example to the next generation not to be mediocre. Today you can still provide quality without spending a fortune. wow you lit a fire on this one. LOL!
BTW I noticed that most of the youtube links i've posted are not working so I don't expect much traffic from here.

Your links seem to be working for me. Which ones do you see that are not working?

The link on my profile, though if you hit the site title Patsy Hoolahan that works and it isn't even a link.  Also my link in Introduce yourself.  It just shows the youtube anti smiley face. however individual videos seem to post.

Fixed both your profile and your link in the intro post.  

In the case of your profile you needed only to enter you YouTube id which in your case is just Patsyhoolahan. You had entered the URL to your profile. The logic behind that setting is not very sophisticated.  Guess I should work on the code and have it filter out everything but the actual ID when folks do that.

In the case of the intro link it was malformed. The feature=mhee part is not needed and I removed it. The best way to post a link to a video or other resource on YouTube is to use the Embed button and simply copy then paste the default URL they provide. That ensures that you have a url that the system here can understand and process.

OH my you know you crossed the line when Shawn disagrees with you totally...lol.  

I don't think I was clear and wasn't referring to viral video's or plain dumb video's.  When I refer to "organic" I mean they are low production look to them...not to say the person isn't professional just that they don't have a high production look to it...it feels like they made it on their own maybe one other person with some basic lightening and editing equipment.  I was not at all referring to reality TV stuff at all.  I was talking with a group of Puppeteers/ and a Muppeteer that lives locally recently about the whole YouTube and lack of professional puppetry vids on it...they talked about knowing people who did post a few high end puppet productions and got really low hits on it as well I know many of high productions YouTube videos are not getting the lower hits as they use to, and many BIG utubers are saying their fans prefer more "organic" style of productions on YouTube.

I am not discouraging people to watch vids on YouTube cause of age...the reason why the age thing is big and helping to get certain video's with larger hits of views is that the younger generation is more likely to post it on other social media if they like it...compare to people in the 30+ age category who don't use Facebook all the time or Twitter or Tumblr ect...the teens/young adults use this as a means of keeping in touch and sharing all kinds of info so keeping that in mind will help you to maybe aim some vids to that age group and your other ones will also get viewed since they may want to see more.  Basically if it is trending on YouTube you need to get on the ship and ride with it to help you channel to get more views and hits.

However I to like long term video's that you can enjoy over and over again...so I do promote any video's to go up and make people laugh, cry or reflect on YouTube I was just trying to answer the question on how to get more hits on YouTube...not to discourage anyone from posting!!

I hope this clarafy's a bit more...even if you don't agree that is okay...lol.

StiqPuppets

I knew what you meant.... just wanted to get your riled up. Actually the first line of my other post sounds better live. I want to disagree but what you say is valid and true. You are right about the social network thing. While I do watch YouTube and go to Facebook each day, I don't do a lot of posting or sharing on FB. I am also pretty sure I an not the average YouTuber. I spent and hour watching a documentary in all it's parts the other day on YT.

I think a big part of the problem is that there are so many forums, blogs, social networks, etc that few people probably use more than a few on a constant basis. I'm more on Twitter than I am on Facebook (although I cheat because everything I post on Twitter gets sent/posted to Facebook, so it looks like I'm on both). I am subscribed to Puptcrit, but unless something catches my immediate attention I don't read, keep or reply. I barely check Youtube unless someone has posted a comment to one of my videos or I'm posting a new video.

I think probably because of this even the people who would be interested in a particular video might not see it, or would see it but not necessarily have the time/attention to participate and share.

That taps into what everyone is saying about the types of audiences, because if you're aiming for an adult audience, you're also aiming towards people who: work all day, take care of kids or go out at night, can't watch Youtube videos at work, have other things to do on the weekend, have too little time to check all the sites they're interested in or subscribed to. Case in point I've just finished 'sorting' my bookmarks as I couldn't find things anymore and had a lot of puppetry stuff in with non-puppetry stuff. I have probably a couple of years worth of backlog of blog posts to read (ie. hundreds if not thousands of posts or sites to check), plus more than 1K sitting in my blog reader. ... If I added in the Youtube accounts I'm subscribed to, I'd probably have a few hundred more.

My point is that not only do you need to know who to market and where to find them, but in order to keep people's attention you'd also have to account for their lack of time. I will bookmark longer posts/videos to read when I am bored or have more time; some particularly interesting long ones (hundreds of commenters) I'll read over the course of a few days between other things; shorter stuff I'll read if I have time.

For me, even the most interesting videos won't keep me interested, mainly because I do so much reading I can't keep up with the videos too. If I were to be on an episode of 'Hoarders' I'd be the one with billions of bookmarks

 :-\In a related subject.  I've seen some threads from folks who have become youtube partners.  Has that done anything for you. I was given the option but I think everyone has it now. Aside from that you can just monetize your videos.  Let them put up ads and you will make a few cents if people hit them and watch.  Don't expect to get rich. I went for the minimization on all three of my youtube sites less than a year ago.  There is about 33 dollars in the kitty. however that is more than i made off my savings interest. LOL! You must have 100% original material. My Patsy Hoolahan site is, however, Tube has rejected minimization on a couple of my vids saying I need proof of ownership. Since you can't talk to anyone you never know why.  Is it the music, what you said.  Frustrating.  Anyhow  I think you have to pay to be a partener and they supposedly promote you.  I'm a bit skeptical. any thoughts here.