you should start off by just learning something simple. like sql, then do a little html/css and then finally try and add a scripting language like php to make a database driven site. once you can do those 4 things. you will be able to develop off those skills and do a lot.
Start with "Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs". People making $3k-$4k on a project (and that's a small project - if it took more than a week I wouldn't be interested in even discussing it) aren't "coders", they're program developers. Coders make about $10-$20/hour working for someone else. If you can't answer most of the questions in the programming sections here, you're not going to make that kind of money ($3k-$4k/small project). Oh, you might fake it for a project or two, but then you become known and have to start changing your name and site to stay in "business" (the business of cheating people). Learn programming, and developing a small project won't seem like such magic. Once you learn the basics (what an array is, how to instantiate a class, etc.), you start learning programming languages like Javascript and PHP. You also have to learn HTML and CSS (which aren't programming). Learning a programming language without knowing programming itself is like learning French to be a neurosurgeon in France - without learning anything about being a doctor. You can talk the talk, but you can't even stand up.