The original poster already noted that he had tried ODesk and similar websites (of which Elance is one). I think it would difficult for him/her to make $1,000/month (especially working with WordPress) while competing against developers who live in places with lower costs of living than Michigan.
odesk can be tougher than it looks. I landed a couple of ruby / rails based gigs for $50/hr there, but then the work dried up, and all I could find were lower per hour jobs, and sketchy pay when project is completed jobs (without a complete spec).