Take whatever paying jobs you can get. No one starts at the top, so as long as they're offering money take it and perform your heart out. So what if it's a job singing at some kid's birthday party? Money is money and a job is a job. As long as you continue working towards getting better jobs this won't be your reality for too long.
Act successful to become successful. If you've already done some live performances and gotten paid, that's successful. Play it up a bit, but don't overdo it. The goal is to get people to like you enough to want to hire you to perform or sign you to a recording contract.
Promote your band through YouTube, by having a family member or a friend create a video of you performing a few songs and then upload it to YouTube. Someone from your band is going to need a YouTube account to do this, but it's easy to sign up if you don't. Upload as many of your performances as you want and then paste them on websites and send links to everyone you know, including bar and club owners, and music industry people.
Create a MySpace Music Page and use that as a showcase for your band. This is a great way to promote your band since a lot of music industry executives use MySpace to find unsigned bands. Put your YouTube videos on there as well as mp3 recordings of your music and any dates you are performing. Download software that will automatically add friends to your MySpace page so that you can build a fan base for your band.
Record a CD of your music and promote it on MySpace. Set up an online store at Snocap so that you can sell your music on MySpace, from your blog or any place else you want. Upload your music to create a playlist, set your prices and then monitor sales.
Keep working to promote yourself while constantly updating your MySpace page, performing at bars and clubs so that you continually improve and soon your band can be a success.