December 19, 2011 6:21:32 AM PST
I have been away from this forum for many moons and just revisited due to an e-mail. Since I have been away, I have found ways to make money doing what I love. Garden coaching was a bust since there weren't enough gigs to make it worthwhile, although the occasional $100 here and there did help.
What I did find that works is turning my tech skills to helping local businesses get more customers - "Offline Profits from the Online World".
I am part of several programs I bought into. Eventually, I was asked to come on board and work in the businesses themselves. That, along with the local businesses who are my clients, pays my mortgage.
I am now working with clients in California, Texas, Georgia, Chicago and Canada, and getting more referrals all the time. ('Local' doesn't mean just in my own home town)
Mary, one of the things I do that makes me very valuable is that I know how to write and I am a subject matter expert. 'Content is King' so they say, but quality content is very hard to come by. If you are a good writer, there IS a market for your skills! People are STARVED for good content written by native-English speakers.
Why don't you contact me off-line - let's see what we can do for each other...