How to make money from your hammock in Utila, or freelancing rocks

This is not the advice on how to make a lot of money, or how to become rich. I would not know a first thing about it. It is about how to make just enough money so that you do not have to worry about the price of baleadas, or how to pay your last tab at Tranquila. I have to thank my friend Nicole for discovering the delights of freelancing and for infecting Utila with it. There is a lot of talent on the island, we just did not know how to cash it. What can you do with the Masters Degree in Sustainable Development on the island? We also have architects, accountants, professors of various sciences, former Microsoft staff, engineers, and many other highly trained people who left their diplomas with their winter clothes in the storage wherever they came from.
So, what is required to become a money-earning freelancer? First, you have to actually have some skills. Preferably computer-related skills. Translations, writing, blogging, web design, graphic design, programming, and everything related to those, are easily done via internet, anywhere.
I have to warn you that it pays peanuts. Indians and Pakistanis are destroying the market by accepting ridiculous prices for their skills. They probably can live on $1 a day, so they accept to be paid $1 for a four-page essay, but we cannot. Not even in Utila. Fortunately, we can compete with quality, and there are still some, although not many, employers who demand quality (and can recognize it when they see it). Check out Freelancer.com, Elance. com and Guru.com, they do not require any advance payment. They charge percentage from your earnings, once you have some.
You realize now that you also have to have a computer, and internet connection is useful, but not vital. You can always order a cup of coffee and sit at the Driftwood and write your stuff. You might have to pay them a percentage one day, but by then you will probably be able to afford Frankie's $60 per month for the internet connection.
The best part of freelancing is that you can accept as many or as few assignments as you like. There are many jobs advertised as 'full time online help', requiring you to sit at the computer 8 hours a day and be someone's virtual secretary. If I wanted 9-5 job, I would have stayed in Canada and used my expensive education. The goal is to work on your terms, when you feel for it. There are days when I work whole day, or night, and others when I just want to play with my new kitten, or drink with Alabama or with Shane and Kirstin. We come back to what brought us to Utila: freedom to choose our way of life.
How much money can you make freelancing? Probably as much as you want, depending on how much you want to work. I am happy if I make $120 a week, that covers all the dog and cat food, my food, rum, coke, Belmont and occasional visit to Babaloo, my favorite watering hole, where my friend Dado bitches about the state of affairs in the world in general and serves decent Cuba Libre, which is posh name for rum and coke. You can have beer too if you insist.
Talk to you again soon
Your Marina, Ecohouseutila