Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by The Director on Jan 09, 2013

You can also use your videos as a video response to other peoples videos.  Some sites are set with an open policy, others wait to approve, and others just don't allow it.  The best way is to find a subject similar to yours.  Sometimes it is not easy.  Patsy Hoolahan will probably approve any puppet vid from any of you.  My only request would be that if you want to post more than one, you do not attach them all to the same video.  Then it becomes clutter.  So far the video with the most hits is "Where's the Kitty" my only real child specific video, so I would not want any adult stuff attached to that.  It's just another way to promote and link up.  I have attached to some muppet stuff, and sites like "The annoying Orange" since they get thousands of hits.  That will give you better exposure briefly, but so many people attach to them that your video soon becommes buried.
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by FleeceNFluff on Jan 09, 2013
I have a fairly successful Youtube channel with an entirely different subject matter but here are the things I have done to promote it and I have a little over 5100 subscribers and counting.

Make sure you use good keywords such as: puppets, muppets, comedy, sketch, show, etc. Use as many as you can think of as long as they pertain to your video. Come up with a set of keywords that relate to all of your videos and keep them handy in a text document so you can just copy and paste them onto all of your videos but also do video specific keywords if your videos have different subjects.

Make sure you have a descriptive title. Avoid calling your videos "Show Name: Episode 1".

If you have a variety of different videos organize them into playlists on your Youtube channel.

At the end of your video provide a link in the video to subscribe or provide a link to your previous video or to one of your playlists. A good example of this can be found at the end of most Glove and Boots videos.

Find other people with similar content. Do video responses to their videos. Leave comments on their videos and try to mention that you have similar content without seeming like you're spamming.

Try to do collaborative work with other people with similar content. Maybe have your puppets skype with the puppets from another channel.

Ask people with similar channels to do a promo for you and do a promo for them in return.

If you don't mind revealing "trade secrets" do a puppet making tutorial or a behind the scenes video and show people how you make your show. Some people might not want to do this because it breaks the illusion but tutorials bring lots of views.

Encourage audience involvement by having a contest or giveaway. When people comment on your videos or hit the like button it makes your videos rank higher in search results. Contests can push people to comment.

Try to come up with a catchy theme song but keep it short. 10-15 seconds max. I got a guy on fiverr.com to do a theme song for me and people have told me they catch themselves humming it sometimes. It was well worth the $5.

Make sure you have good lighting and audio. The two biggest turn offs are bad lighting and muffled audio. Even if you have great content people will turn it off if its hard to see or hear what's going on.

Hopefully this is helpful. A lot of the stuff I do on my channel isn't relevant to puppets.
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by lokiy2j on Jan 09, 2013
Hey Stevek thanks for the tips! especially the one about fiverr.com! I'm going to try my luck on there too!
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by lokiy2j on Jan 09, 2013
Hey Stevek! whats your channel on Youtube?
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by FleeceNFluff on Jan 09, 2013
My current channel isn't puppetry related. I ride motorcycles and vlog while riding. Most people here probably wont be interested but if you want to check it out here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/kryten

Just be aware that sometimes the subject matter and language may not be entirely kid friendly.

If you want to check out the theme song I got on fiverr.com go to my main channel and watch one of the videos in the Story Time series. The theme song has some swearing but there's a reason. My early videos were usually just me complaining about things like bad service or bad drivers. I would rant and swear a bit in frustration and it kinda became what I was known for. I've toned that down a lot though recently. I guess building puppets has calmed me down a bit. 
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by Shawn on Jan 10, 2013
Posted by: stevek on Jan 09, 2013
... I guess building puppets has calmed me down a bit. 

Proof that puppets are therapeutic!
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by pagestep007 on Jan 10, 2013
absolutely true Shawn.
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by The Director on Feb 01, 2013
An evening on youtube can be like a trip around the world.  I love being able to peek into other cultures at the click of the mouse.  The same goes for this site.  We are from everywhere.  I find myself trying to think globally when I put out a video.  I just launched a Black History show.  I don't know how that ranslates around the world.  However I can see that most of the world has an eye on the US and seem to know alot of what's going on here.  Then there are exceptions like "pagestep" who never heard of Andy Warhol.
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by The Director on Feb 11, 2013
Just an update. I need to reread this whole thread filled with good information.  My last video "Black History Month" pushed me over the edge a bit.  Not that it has brought hundreds of hits, but some good responses that led to subscribers.  That wasn't all of it though.  I had Patsy comment on alot of black history videos and many of those are the ones who subscribed or made positive comments. A friend of mine who did not like the show, after seeing this episode is now hooked on Patsy Hoolahan. It's insane. My friend who was in the video is also obsessed with her. (LOL! after he was almost sorry he appeared in it.)  I have also found that there are a growing number of youtubers who respond to your responces and those are the folks to stay in touch with.  I originally only had Patsy subscribe to puppet sites, but found I needed to stretch that.  The face book site has been helpful. It's all a slow process. I really appreciate Shawn and this site witch has acted as a spring board.  It's like another job to do all this.. On the side, there are a few creepy folks who have subcribed.  A guy who wears a chainsaw masacre mask and saws things. (He wants to make a Patsy Hoolahan type puppet) yikes!  There is also a guy who made a very wierd looking puppet that pretty much just makes noises for a minute. Nice puppet but I don't think he knows what to do with it. Maybe I'll put one of his vids up on Youtube treasures. Thanks.
Re: Finding your Youtube audience. Posted by pagestep007 on Feb 11, 2013
Hey TheDirector (we made it to NZ. It took 6 days, and connections got all messed up, but we got to see some of Asia that we did not expect to see...Frogo's next installment is on the way, as soon as I can encourage a laptop to edit, and find a willing donor to upload it...)  I said you would get a following. It will just take some time. Don't worry about the 'strange' subscribers. My early ones were a little 'odd' as well,like real live spider collections and... well not comfortable to mention stuff... but, then after a while ordinary folks started signing up. Keep it up, you'll do fine.
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