You still have to wait until payout to see your rewards, that's why I called it an investment, and that's why using the services are not a sure bet. You have to remember the some of that income (roughly 25%) goes to the curators, which is why you need to do some math before investing.
Still, when your account goes from making 0.00 to more than that, its exciting.
Because so many of your posts receive upvotes, but minimal payouts, I would suggest you begin using @dustsweeper so that the posts that you don't use voting services on, still receive payouts.