How much web developers can make (Score 2, Insightful)

I live in Portland, Oregon. I was hired in mid-2000 as a web "graphic designer" at $33K. I left that company this January making $66K. I left because my employer was not addressing needs of his main client and began working directly for the client at their request. I now bring in an average of $12K per month after taxes. I know classic ASP, can design and maintain (fairly well) MS SQLServer databases, but that's about it. The client is a fulfillment company that has a e-commerce front-end and a simple order tracking and inventory back-end.
I obviously made the most of my luck, but even with these limited skills I think my success is due to:

• superior communication and people skills
• picking simple, cheap solutions that meet requirements.
• being self-sufficient
• realizing that a ton of money can be made doing unexciting but high-accountability work.

More than anything though was just being nice to people when interacting with them. Treating people with kindness and meeting their needs goes a very long way.

I realize that not everyone will see such an opportunity or even take it (my boss threatened to sue me). But if you work hard and look out for yourself you can find tremendous opportunities out there.