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	<title>Shel Design Weblog</title>
	<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>Just another WordPress.com weblog</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 21 May 2008 13:01:10 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>How&#8217;s Your Business Image?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Analysing the way your business is perceived can be a difficult task. It&#8217;s hard to be objective about your own business, and often the people around us (family, friends, associates, long term clients) also have a &#8220;rosy&#8221; view of your business. Or they may not feel comfortable giving you critical feedback.
But there are some things [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=13&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/hows-your-business-image/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Valuing My Time</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Do I really value my time? As a solo business owner, and therefore a wearer of many hats, I often wonder how to really &#8220;price&#8221; my time. Most business owners will spend many &#8220;unpaid&#8221; hours on their business, partly for the love of it, partly because there&#8217;s lots to be done!
I was challenged at a recent [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=12&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/valuing-my-time/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Networking</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every person I speak to who is just starting a business ALWAYS asks me what marketing strategies I recommend. Sometimes, I am not sure they like the answer because it is not an &#8220;easy&#8221; strategy to implement, especially as a new business owner. And that answer is NETWORKING.
I suspect the reason people don&#8217;t like to [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=11&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/networking/</link>
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		<title>Milestones</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Perhaps it has just been procrastination, but I have always struggled to articulate and document my business goals. Individual and short term projects are no problem &#8211; it seems much easier to have clear and direct goals for these.
And then a business mentor suggested to me the idea of &#8220;milestones&#8221; rather than goals&#8230;a lightbulb moment! [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=10&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/milestones/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>The little things</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The longer I am in business, the more amazed I am at the stories I hear about &#8220;bad&#8221; businesses. These range from outright rip-offs (e.g. people paying web designers 1000&#8217;s upfront and then never hearing from them again) to very &#8221;minor&#8221; incidents that turn clients/customers away (e.g. not having a call returned). 
These &#8221;minor&#8221; incidents are ones that &#8220;good&#8221; businesses [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=8&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/the-little-things/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Mentoring</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I was recently asked to be a mentor in a mentoring program for new business owners. My first reaction was to laugh at the person who asked me (politely!) but she proceeded to list all the reasons why she thought I would make a great mentor. I&#8217;m still not sure I feel confident enough to agree with everything [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=9&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/mentoring/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>I baked a cake&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I baked a cake today. &#8220;Whoopee&#8221; I hear you say. But for someone who:
a) runs a business from home
b) has a 2 year old
c) has every Donna Hay magazine and cookbook ever published
d) loves cooking but never has time
it was a significant moment! I am attempting to do more &#8220;life&#8221; in the &#8220;work/life juggle&#8221; and [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=7&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/i-baked-a-cake/</link>
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		<title>The necessity of fear</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As I was driving yesterday I saw a van advertising Skydiving with the tagline &#8220;Fear is the thief of dreams&#8221;. A great motivator for potential skydiving customers, but also a great philosophy for business. As a sole trader business, I find that fear raises its ugly head in multiple forms and in many situations. Fear of [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=6&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/the-necessity-of-fear/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Work/Life Balance &#8211; Definitely a Myth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[At the Business Mums Conference in Melbourne last month, keynote speaker Sandi Givens announced to a group of enthusiastic, yet overloaded mums that work/life balance is a myth. I agree and feel it is much more realistic to view it as a continual juggling of roles and tasks with an aim to achieve some sense [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=5&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/worklife-balance-definitely-a-myth/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>It&#8217;s not the size of the mistake &#8211; it&#8217;s how you deal with it!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Yep I made a mistake &#8211; not an earth-shattering one but one with potential consequences for my business reputation. I have always said when commenting on other businesses mistakes &#8220;I understand that mistakes happen, but it&#8217;s how they dealt with it that really matters&#8221;. And now i&#8217;ve had to put my philosophy in to practice!
So, [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=sheldesign.wordpress.com&blog=1740632&post=4&subd=sheldesign&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
		<link>http://sheldesign.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/its-not-the-size-of-the-mistake-its-how-you-deal-with-it/</link>
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