[DennisP]

I recently attended some presentations by a guy who used to be a CIO, missed writing code, and figured out how to get work as a developer at near the CIO-level pay his family was accustomed to.

First step was getting really good; he recommended doing lots of code katas and taking jobs where all the other developers are better than you. As you go, develop a public reputation by blogging, travelling around doing presentations, etc. Be willing to move frequently, the high-paying jobs won't necessarily be local. Generally they're at companies where software is the main product, not just an "IT cost."

Here's his slide deck from that presentation: http://www.docondev.com/2010/05/take-control-of-your-develop...