I have been doing some work recently wondering why some people blog so successfully whereas other barely reach half of their potential. The most important factor seems to be the motivation behind blogging - that is why you are blogging. If you are blogging solely for the purpose of money and about something that don't really interest you, then you have prepared yourself for a failure. Anyways, check out this updated list of top adsense earning bloggers of 2009
Why dont you check out the blogs of Probloggers, and Johnchow? Those are the ones who can make a full time income from blogging.
You could probably do this, however it would only help you to a certain extent.. Sure, you can learn why the success of these famous bloggers was made possible and pickup usefull traits in their characteristics. I think it should end there however, as the odds of this success being exactly replicated are rather slim.. Why? Because every human being has a different chemical makeup, which consequenty creates a sense of individualism which ultimately leads to the generation of a set of ideas seperate to those of these top bloggers. In short - you will have a different way of thinking to them. And this could be to your advantage. Excerising a degree of differentiation is a formula for success in itself, and while having the knowledge as to how others came into creating success for themselves is definitely useful, it should never be regarded as the be all and end all.
There are many blogs and bloggers that make money, these are merely the ones that blog about "blogging". I suggest that you look at the industry and platform overall. There are niche specific bloggers out there that make as much or more than the same old ones that everyone always mentions. I'm sure Chow and Rose do well, but do they make as much as the guys at Politico, The Havard Newsletters, Huffington, Lloyds, Investment Watch and so on. I would say that blogging about blogging is the most tired and saturated niche to blog about.