Everything is up to you. You definitely can be even non US, work remotely and make way more :)

Funny, I have a completely opposite experience :)

It really depends on people, not about location. Talent can be EVERYWHERE, as well as not so talented ones :)

Find a friend who has his brains tuned for systems architecture & design :) Overall you do not need that much reviewing. The biggest issues appears IMO when there are mistakes in high level architecture and those can be spoted by someone with right experiene really fast and while refactoring and restructuring code you will become way better developer.

Update your LinkedIn profile. I am getting something like 1-2 proposals each day there and some of them are really really interesting ones. If I'd be looking for any new roles or contracts that would be a really nice source of leads.

Soft launched http://traxmo.com - time tracking, task management & invoicing.

I think it's just a point of view as one can be very productive working remotely and another do nothing while being on site.

By the way in U.S. remote situation is not that bad. I am from EU myself, i work exclusively remotely for already 7 years (what proves that it is really possible to work remotely) but I am capable to find long lasting contracts just in U.S. In EU it seems like it's not possible at all :(

or buy 4 ebooks on copywriting at copyhackers.com, really good stuff. and bundle costs just $49. you'll get everything you need to write a good copy. Disclaimer: I do not work for copyhackers as well :)

Here is my road from blank page to final product:

1. Start with pen and paper. Thinking a lot about usability draw everything there. You could use balsamiq.com & similar, but for me paper & pen works the best in this phase.

2. Look for design inspiration at dribbble.com & similar

3. Look for colors inspiration at colourlovers.com, kuler.adobe.com

4. Create PSD

5. Create HTML+CSS

6. Implement

That's it. At least for me it works very well.

I second this process! The pen and paper get the creative juices flowing quickly.. I would also add that I found Smashing Magazine a great resource.

Well, actually one multi-million company I was working for had chief architect on telecommute basis and it worked really well. I suppose it's more about processes and company DNA. But I have to admit, I saw such case just once :)

I think the biggest problem is your current code. It's really important part. I am working on a project, which was initially written by following all bad practices you could think off. Well, happens, what can you do :) But the biggest issue is finding someone who is capable move forward without breaking while fixing. Experience doesn't matter in such cases, look for very detail oriented ones and if you find them drop me a line :)