Just to qualify this further - what if you're not selling a service on top of your blog? (i.e. design services in your case) - could you still create a labor of love, like a blog and pay rent with the cash it generates? how?

Don't think about the end result while you're starting off. I didn't create a blog because I wanted clients. I created a blog to show the world my work (showoff) and people just happened to like it and the offers started flowing.

If you think about the end result (pay rent in your case) then you maynot be able to succeed! Okay I don't want to talk philosophy here buy you got the point, didn't you?