li {
  background: url(images/bullet.gif) no-repeat left top;
  padding: 3px 0px 3px 10px;
  /* reset styles (optional): */
  list-style: none;
  margin: 0;
}

http://alistapart.com/article/taminglists

Using a combination of background and padding styles to modify the way list image styles are applied.

List image - space before text

text, background

CSS