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	<title>Articles by Michelle Shaeffer</title>
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	<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com</link>
	<description>Articles to help you balance, manage, and market your business</description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:17:01 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>How to Choose the Right Website Builder for Your Small Business Website</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-choose-the-right-website-builder-for-your-small-business-website/249</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-choose-the-right-website-builder-for-your-small-business-website/249#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:20:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=249</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Website Builders provide an easy way for small business owners to create a website without learning HTML, CSS, or other website coding languages. With dozens and dozens of options, which one is right for your website?
The best way to find the right website builder for you is to know what you need before you make [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Don&#8217;t Delegate What You Can Automate</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/dont-delegate-what-you-can-automate/246</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/dont-delegate-what-you-can-automate/246#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:17:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Working at Home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=246</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Working with a virtual assistant or other professional to help you with some of the routine tasks in your small business can be a great decision and free up your time to focus on your income generating activities. But delegate wisely! Don&#8217;t delegate what you can automate. Save time and money by automating these six [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/dont-delegate-what-you-can-automate/246/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
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		<title>Three Mistakes That Can Get Your Newsletter Trashed or Trash Your Responses</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-mistakes-that-can-get-your-newsletter-trashed-or-trash-your-responses/243</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-mistakes-that-can-get-your-newsletter-trashed-or-trash-your-responses/243#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:15:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=243</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Don&#8217;t let your email newsletter get tossed into the virtual trash can before it&#8217;s opened, or lead your customers to the wrong place when they&#8217;re ready to purchase. Be sure you aren&#8217;t making these three common mistakes.
1) A non-descriptive or vague &#8220;From&#8221; line
Don&#8217;t put &#8220;newsletter&#8221; in the &#8220;from&#8221; line. No one will know which newsletter [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Schedule a Business Strategy Day and Plan Your Way to Success</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/schedule-a-business-strategy-day-and-plan-your-way-to-success/240</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/schedule-a-business-strategy-day-and-plan-your-way-to-success/240#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:14:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you know where your business will be in 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 5 years? Do you know what steps you need to take to reach those goals? Are your daily actions brining you closer to your goals or are you just &#8220;spinning your wheels&#8221;? Are your business systems and processes supporting your [...]]]></description>
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		<title>How to Speed Up Magento Commerce</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-speed-up-magento-commerce/237</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-speed-up-magento-commerce/237#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:13:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=237</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re running Magento Commerce on shared hosting, loading speed can be a challenge. Slow loading websites cause customers to click away and shop elsewhere.
Before you begin working to optimize your website, test your speed with a tool like webpageanalyzer.com or iwebtool.com/speed_test Run several tests at different times of the day to get a better [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-speed-up-magento-commerce/237/feed</wfw:commentRss>
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		<title>Email Overwhelm - Overcome it in 5 Steps</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/email-overwhelm-overcome-it-in-5-steps/234</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/email-overwhelm-overcome-it-in-5-steps/234#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:12:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are you drowning in email? Got dozens or hundreds of messages in your inbox waiting for you to sort through and respond to them? Do you feel overwhelmed just thinking about clicking the &#8220;check mail&#8221; button? Don&#8217;t panic! You can overcome that flood of email!
1) Use a Good Spam Filter
Check with your website host to [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Understanding the Basics of Website Statistics</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/understanding-the-basics-of-website-statistics/231</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/understanding-the-basics-of-website-statistics/231#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:11:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=231</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Learning to understand your website statistics can help you improve your website for visitors, measure if your promotional strategies are working, and find new opportunities to promote your business.
How can you measure your website statistics?
There are two common ways to measure this important information.
One is with software that analyzes the server logfiles. Each time someone [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Bounce Rate - What Does it Mean for Your Website?</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/bounce-rate-what-does-it-mean-for-your-website/228</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/bounce-rate-what-does-it-mean-for-your-website/228#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:10:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you track your website analytics, you may wonder what &#8220;bounce rate&#8221; means and whether it&#8217;s a good thing or a bad thing. &#8220;Bounce rate&#8221; means a visitor clicked through to your website, and only visited one page. They didn&#8217;t browse around any. They viewed one page and left.
Whether a high bounce rate is reason [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Two Things You Must Know to Keep Your Website Safe</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/two-things-you-must-know-to-keep-your-website-safe-2/225</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/two-things-you-must-know-to-keep-your-website-safe-2/225#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:09:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=225</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Imagine that you sit down at your computer one day, type in your domain name, and instead of the business website you&#8217;ve worked to build you see some crazy page that&#8217;s definitely not your website. What happened? What do you do next?
You may see a suspended hosting page asking you to contact your website host, [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Five Areas You Can Evaluate to Reduce Your Home Office Expenses</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/five-areas-you-can-evaluate-to-reduce-your-home-office-expenses/222</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/five-areas-you-can-evaluate-to-reduce-your-home-office-expenses/222#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:06:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you need to reduce your home office expenses, you need to know what your current expenses are, then take time to evaluate your needs and options.
Here are five expenses you can evaluate to reduce your home office costs.
Phone: What are you currently paying for your office phone line(s) each month? Are there options that [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Three Steps to Slashing Your Home Business Operating Costs</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-steps-to-slashing-your-home-business-operating-costs/220</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-steps-to-slashing-your-home-business-operating-costs/220#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:04:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=220</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you know you need to slash your small business budget, but aren&#8217;t sure how to begin, here are three steps to help you cut responsibly.
1. Analyze
Begin by making a list of all your expenses&#8211;daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. Write them all down on paper so you can see exactly what it costs you to operate.
Don&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Five Steps to Transform Your Home Office into a Sanctuary on a Budget</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/five-steps-to-transform-your-home-office-into-a-sanctuary-on-a-budget/217</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/five-steps-to-transform-your-home-office-into-a-sanctuary-on-a-budget/217#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:03:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Working at Home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=217</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With just a bit of work and creativity, you can transform your home office into a space that you feel energized by and enjoy spending time in.
Remove and Declutter
Give yourself permission to declutter your space and remove anything that makes you feel anxious or that you&#8217;ve been tolerating but don&#8217;t love.
Organize Everything
Take time to plan [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Be Ready When Creativity and Inspiration Strike</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/be-ready-when-creativity-and-inspiration-strike/214</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/be-ready-when-creativity-and-inspiration-strike/214#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:01:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Motivational]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I write this article, I&#8217;m on a jet from Seattle to DC. This is article seven in a brainstorm session powered by Seattle&#8217;s Best Coffee and scribbled in partial shorthand into a notebook (I&#8217;ll polish later, when I&#8217;m back on the ground). I&#8217;m thoroughly enjoying the feel of pen against real paper. I&#8217;m one [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Handling a Confidence Crisis with Your Own &#8220;Positivity&#8221; File</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/handling-a-confidence-crisis-with-your-own-positivity-file/211</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/handling-a-confidence-crisis-with-your-own-positivity-file/211#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[Working at Home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Running your own small business can be a bumpy road. Many small business owners go through moments were we aren&#8217;t sure we can succeed or that we are &#8220;enough&#8221; (good enough, smart enough, talented enough, etc).
Overcome the confidence crisis! Create your own positivity file. It can be a folder on your computer, a folder on [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Why You Need to Say &#8220;No&#8221; to Some Projects</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/why-you-need-to-say-no-to-some-projects/208</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/why-you-need-to-say-no-to-some-projects/208#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:58:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=208</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Service providers and freelancers often feel under pressure to offer their services to anyone who requests them. But sometimes the best answer is no.
Businesses have unique needs, and every clients has a unique personality. Projects deserve the best &#8220;fit&#8221; for them.
If you&#8217;re ever tried to put a square peg in a round hole, make the [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Three Easy Ways to Make Your Website Builder Template Uniquely Yours</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-easy-ways-to-make-your-website-builder-template-uniquely-yours/205</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/three-easy-ways-to-make-your-website-builder-template-uniquely-yours/205#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=205</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Website builders are popular because they&#8217;re a quick and easy way to create your own website. Most are &#8220;point and click&#8221; style, requiring no knowledge of HTML or CSS code and offer dozens or hundreds of nicely designed templates to choose from.
But since everyone using the website builder has access to those same templates, you&#8217;ve [...]]]></description>
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		<title>How to Choose an SEO Friendly Website Builder</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-choose-an-seo-friendly-website-builder/202</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-to-choose-an-seo-friendly-website-builder/202#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:54:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=202</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;re ready to create your first business website and get it online. You choose a site builder and put hours into your website. A month later, it&#8217;s no where to be found in the search engines. You wait a little longer hoping it just needs a little more time. But another month passes with no [...]]]></description>
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		<title>How a Good Site Builder Program Can Reduce Your Website Costs</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-a-good-site-builder-program-can-reduce-your-website-costs/197</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/how-a-good-site-builder-program-can-reduce-your-website-costs/197#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:50:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An up-to-date and well maintained website is important for a small business. It&#8217;s your 24/7 salesperson and customer service representative, always there promoting your products or services and answering questions for your customers.
It can be a challenge for a small business start up to afford frequent website updates by a professional web designer (hourly rates [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Business Evolution: Why You Must Allow It To Happen</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/business-evolution-why-you-must-allow-it-to-happen/164</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/business-evolution-why-you-must-allow-it-to-happen/164#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:45:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=164</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is your business growing and evolving? I&#8217;ve consulted with entrepreneurs who are considering changes (big or small) in the direction of their businesses and I&#8217;ve been there myself. It can feel a little intimidating to change directions. Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve learned.
1. Business naturally evolve as their owners evolve. As you gain knowledge and grow personally, [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Domain Registration Privacy Protection: Do You Need It?</title>
		<link>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/domain-registration-privacy-protection-do-you-need-it/162</link>
		<comments>http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/domain-registration-privacy-protection-do-you-need-it/162#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michelle</dc:creator>
		
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com/?p=162</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every domain name has a publicly accessible record that includes the owner&#8217;s personal information. It&#8217;s called a WHOIS record and lists the registrant and contacts for the domain. Your name, address, city, state, zip, country, phone number and email address may be listed on the WHOIS record for your domain. It also shows when you [...]]]></description>
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