I have a lot of friends who produce podcasts. Many of them are in my podcast subscription list, and I enjoy them all. You guys do a great job of creating relevant, targeted content — and it’s not even your full-time job (except in the case of Cali Lewis

One thing all podcasters and producers will need to keep in mind is a lesson to be learned from traditional media … always plan for the next thing. Let’s face it, all shows in traditional media eventually come to an end. Take a look at M.A.S.H. As amazing as that show was, it did come to and end. Heck, it lasted longer than the war on which it was based. And let’s not forget the thousands and thousands of podcasts that started in 2005, only to end in, well, 2005.

You want to always plan ahead for your show. There are a few steps you can take to ensure you’ll follow your passion for years to come.

1. SPIN-OFF: While this didn’t work very well for the M.A.S.H. spin-off, AfterMASH, it was a formula for success for All in the Family. That show had spin-offs and spin-offs of spin-offs, including Maude, The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker’s Place, Gloria, 704 Hauser, Good Times, and Checking In. Your podcast has probably grown in areas beyond where it originated, so capitalize on that, and create a spin-off show for this new audience segment. GeekBriefTV has done this successfully with The Big Trip, iCali, Dear Cali, and CarnivoreTV. Each of these shows is satisfying a sub-set her their audience and, in turn, increasing their downloads and ad revenue.
2. CONSISTENCY: I know this point has been beaten to death, as it applies to both podcasts and blogs. You must put out fresh content on a regular basis, otherwise your numbers will drop off. The listenership of my podcast, The Dave and Matt Show, had a significant drop-off when we went on hiatus. This condition is evident in this year’s TV season with shows coming back from hiatus. Skellie has a great post about blog frequency. Of course, this doesn’t have to mean you have to produce a new show each time. If you have a healthy archive of episodes, you can create a “best-of” episode, a “bloopers” show, or have someone guest-host your show.
3. CHANGE IT UP: This tip borders on Darwinistic, but if you find that your audience is dwindling (downloads, ratings, viewership, etc.), then shake things up and evolve over time. One of the best media podcasts out there, in my opinion, is Shelly Palmer’s MediaBytes. He is perhaps the best aggregator of media business news out there, and he puts his own spin on the news from his many (many, many) years in the industry. However, if you listen to the first episodes, they are quite different in format than what you hear today.
4. NETWORKS: One way to ensure the longevity of your podcast property is to not hang your hat on the one show’s name. For instance, one consistently funny show I listen to is Pacific Coast Hellway. The producer, Mark Yoshimoto-Nemcoff, has made slight adjustments to the show’s format to keep it fresh. However, the property is the show, and vice-versa. When I met with the producers of the Wedding Podcast Network, I thought their move to have their enterprise under a “network” moniker was brilliant. They have around 10 shows in their network right now. If one fails, the network lives on. Similarly, if Private Practice gets cancelled, ABC network isn’t going anywhere.
5. DON’T CALL IT A PODCAST: Now, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, but if you call your show a podcast, you’ve instantly narrowed the perception of what your audience should expect. You’ve identified your show by the medium on which it is distributed. The”pod” portion of podcast has confused a lot of non-listeners into thinking that you have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. However, according to Edison Media Research, more than two-thirds of podcast consumers listen/view podcasts on a computer over a portable device. Today, people can watch a podcast on an a phone, a computer, a television, a portable media player, an AppleTV, and a refrigerator (seriously). If you call your show a “show”, it doesn’t paint you into a corner in terms of distribution. Leo LaPorte was sort of on the right track when he started calling his podcasts “netcasts.”

These are just a few tips, and I encourage you to use the comments section to add your own. And  please incorporate at least a few of these tips, because I wanted to listen to you experts-in-your-field for many years to come.