I live in a moderate sized but remote town with only one school. I am looking for other employment and have the support of my teaching association but without a good reference from the current school it is doubtful I will find another teaching job soon. I am working on relocating to a bigger city but I have a young family and it will take time and money.

The reason I have turned to hacker news is that there are many self-employed people here who earn their living on the internet so to speak. This is something I want to try but I feel overwhelmed by all the myriad information available. There are many ways of earning money on-line and I am not sure which to pursue. I have lots of time and am willing to put in a lot of effort but I need some guidance and mentoring.

I am proficient in Java programming and have basic skills in php/html/css and javascript. I am also learning RubyOnRails. I have tried to find programming and writing work on freelance websites without success. I also registered with some remote tutoring companies but have yet to be accepted. I have been reading about affiliate marketing on places like digitalpoint and warriorforums but the whole enterprise seems to me very spammy and I would like to avoid such things if possible.

In a similar position, what would you do HN?