People often come to me in a state of crisis and say their website isn't working. Usually they're in a cold sweat:

"Michael, give me some practical things I can do to get more sales from my website!"

You want practical advice? Stop treating your website like an object in your business and start treating it like an employee. Most businesses treat their website like a physical item in their business - such as a filing cabinet for example. Just take Mr. Smith from ABC Ltd.:

"Everyone else has got a filing cabinet so I thought we'd better get one. I'm not very interested in cabinets myself but people seem to think they get you more customers. It looks quite neat though - I made sure my face is on the front of it."

Very good. How much business do you get from it?

"Business? Oh I don't know - I haven't even looked at it for a year or so. It's been a waste of money. We paid a company to build it and it doesn't work."

Right, I see. Have you updated it regularly and promoted it extensively?

"What? No - it went live and that was it, nothing's happened. I thought the phone would be ringing off the hook. Come and have a look at it anyway, it's over here in the corner - gathering dust."

So here they are:

5 Ways To Treat Your Website Like An Employee And Make More Money As A Result

Treat your website like one of your employees and it will start to behave like one.

1. Look after your employees - give them the attention they deserve, pay them well and don't neglect their needs

2. Make sure your employees look the part - first impressions count: scuffed shoes and scruffy clothes won't bring in the business

3. Give them mobility - buy them a company car so they can get out into the world and sell for you, they won't sell much stuck in one place and not being found

4. Keep them informed - give them the latest information on the focus of your company, new services, new sales scripts, latest changes to the way you do business etc.

5. Introduce them to everyone - don't let your employee feel like they're on the sidelines of your business, separate to everyone else - they need to be a fully integrated part of your business, not an after-thought bolted on at the last minute.