Here’s a quick video I just recorded on the uses of UStream.tv.

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

And I’m live right now, as of 12:52 PM Pacific Time.

Pop in and say hello! You can ask questions in real time and see me working, which is utterly fascinating, to be frank.

This blog post is all about you…

Has the economy hit your pocketbook?

Are you seeing a difference, or are you just concerned about the future?

Are you making changes?

What are three things you’ve done lately to save money?

Sara Best from Velo Communications had a great idea for Life on Avenue Z. She suggested I find a way to encourage discussions among the freelancers who read this blog, allowing more users to share ideas and solutions for problems we face regularly.

This is a fantastic idea, and I’m in the process of soliciting input from freelance readers on the best way to achieve this. In the meantime, I thought I’d experiment with this post for the Avenue Z readers as a whole.

Please don’t be shy — share your insight and your tips!

I spent this past weekend in Denver with the family, and I would have been lost without Live Mesh. You create an account and add computers to your network. When I worked on my home computer, any file in my shared folders was updated on the Live Mesh site. When I signed onto my laptop computer, the files were automatically updated.

While I was on the airplane and working offline, the new changes were stored, and as soon as I connected to the internet again, all the files were updated on all the connected computers.

In addition, I used Live Mesh to remotely control my home computer. I could even copy a file from home and paste it to my desktop.

It rocks. And it’s free!

PS — subscribe now to Avenue Z email updates, and I’ll send you the document with Live Mesh and more than 100 other free and low-cost tech tools you can’t live without!

The people who hire me as a marketing consultant are very smart people (and not just because they know to hire me ). If they had the time, they could write amazing white papers, plan kick-a marketing campaigns, figure out laser-focused target markets and get the phones a-ringing. They hire me because they can’t break away to think things through.

A consultant provides two things: a little bit of expertise and a lot of clear-thinking time. When I fly out to meet with clients, I usually ask for one afternoon and most of the next day of the undivided attention of key people in their company. And the miracles happen when these people get in the same room without their phones and emails and have time to think about what they want to do. My job as a consultant is to help them streamline and clarify their own ideas to put together a plan.

Like the cobbler’s shoeless kids, we consultants/freelancers/experts can frequently do for others what we don’t take the time to do for ourselves. We get so bogged down in answering daily emails and keeping our daily jobs going that we don’t create a real plan for the future.

But we’re smart people, and we deserve our own expertise and clear-thinking time. Here’s how you can bring yourself in as a consultant…

1. Set aside at least a four-hour time block within the next week.
   Two blocks would be even better. Try a late afternoon block followed by another block in the morning. You should be able to be completely disconnected from the office. Also plan on having hard copies of what you want to work on, a white board, notepads and appropriate writing tools.
2. Set an agenda.
   What do you want to get accomplished? Are you looking to figure out a new target market? Do you need to take a fresh look at your existing marketing material? Do you need to revamp your website? Make an outline of everything you want to achieve, and include a timeline to get through the topics.
3. Prepare for the retreat.
   Now that you know what you want to achieve, figure out what you need to do so. Do you need to print out your website for the eval? How about a list of your lead sources? These should be short tasks — just assembling pieces of paper that you’ll need for your retreat.
4. Bring in some expertise.
   A good consultant should allow you to do the thinking but should bring in some expert advice. Maybe order a respected book from Amazon.com, or visit a well-known blog with tips. You may have to take the book to bed with you to absorb some info in advance, but you can usually use your clear-thinking retreat to skim and absorb while you work. The less time you have for the retreat, the more homework you need to do beforehand.
5. Find a venue for your retreat.
   My clients and I almost always meet in their conference room. Find a quiet place where you can’t hear your email ding or your phone ring. The front porch is a bad idea if it looks out onto a street where interesting passersby can distract you. If you have to do it in your office, set up a folding table so you’re out of your desk chair and away from the normal distractions.
6. Start with work, not with lunch.
   When it’s time for your retreat, pick up the hard copy of your agenda and read it aloud. This is your work. Jump right in. Don’t start by adding new distractions or ways to get off track. Having a consultant come in is an expensive luxury for a small business, and you need to get the most out of your retreat as you can. Keep yourself well fueled and hydrated as appropriate, but don’t eat things that turn your brain to mush, like a whole package of Oreos.
7. Talk to yourself.
   One of my best techniques for commandeering my own head is to start asking myself questions aloud. Talk through your ideas. Put a voice to your strategies. You can find your own technique here, but remember that you’re trying to capture the ideas that race through your head at lightening speed when you’re entrenched in daily work. Here’s your chance to get those ideas into a real plan.
8. As you talk, record your ideas.
   When I’m sitting with clients and they start talking, I start writing on the white board. Usually we start with random sentences, but frequently a pattern will emerge in the sentences. We’ll see ways to categorize the strategies, or we’ll see ideas that don’t fit into this conversation but that we need to save for later.
9. Keep checking your time.
   Ok, so you’re talking to yourself, letting ideas fly, writing down sentences, elaborating on your thoughts…. Watch the clock and your agenda. Your agenda can be flexible, but remember that you want to come up with concrete tasks you want to achieve.
10. Think about a perfect stopping point.
    Remember — this isn’t just a thinking day. You need to organize your thoughts into real things you can do. Make sure the last thing you do before you end your retreat is to create a list of tasks.
11. Before you completely stop, make sure you capture everything you’ve done.
    You might need to snap a picture of your white board or rewrite your notes. But don’t let one thought get away!
12. NOW take yourself out to dinner.
    Once you’ve created your list, take yourself out to dinner and think some more. Review your list of tasks and make adjustments. If you’ve created a list of documents that you want to produce, maybe jump into the outline of one of them.

Another idea: Pair up with another small business owner and work in teams on both of your businesses. Having someone listen to your ideas and add new ones can work even better.