Are you confused by how every $0.01 upvote on your posts or comments affect how much Steem Power (SP) or SBD you get on each payout?
Would you like to know how to calculate it?
Well look no further as I attempt to "simplify" and "quantify" the process.
Disclaimer: For simplicity I'm not going into the wonky nuances so that I can keep most people's attention. So this explanation is "simplified" and just a guide, certainly not a white paper on the subject. ;)
First The Basics
There are two basic ways to earn on steemit, as an author or a curator. The authors get 75% and the curators get 25% of the value of that penny. (Note: curators must cast their votes at least 30 minutes AFTER the post/comment to get the full curation benefit).
So you make a post or comment (this means you are the "author") and somebody upvotes you and you can see the values in your blog (see below)
Or you make an upvote on something you want to reward (this means you are the "curator"). Remember in order to get credit for this curation, you must cast it AFTER the post is 30 minutes old (otherwise some or all of it will go to the author).
Then you wait 7 days after that post or comment and steemit pays you out in STEEM POWER (SP) and STEEM DOLLARS (SBD)
How Do They Decide What To Pay?
This is simple, well sort of... Once the final value of your upvote is locked and your payment is pending, they make a calculation to pay you out in 2 different currencies (SBD and SP).
All you need to know is 1) the author payout value and 2) the current market price of STEEM (in my example I use US$6.32). (Note to get a current STEEM quote, click: https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/steem/trading_exchanges)
Half of the payout is in SBD and the other half of the payout is based on the current US$ amount of STEEM.
Here's the formulas I use to make it simple:
Payout formula as authors of comments or posts
Upvote value X 0.75 = Total Payout
Total Payout X .5 = SBD Payout (the first currency SBD)
(Total Payout X .5) / Mkt Price STEEM = Steem Power (SP) Payout (the 2nd currency SP)
My Homemade Payout Calculator
How Can I Estimate Ahead Of Time?
In the calculator I made above, I used a simple spreadsheet using those formulas above. You can use it 2 ways, for learning (looking at the past results) and forecasting (estimating and planning your strategies).
You can use the 2nd column to look at the past payouts (where you know the final author payout, and remember it varies but will always be higher than 75%) or you can use the 1st column to "estimate" what your payout will be at any given time on a single post.
Or as we discussed yesterday (How Much Money Is Coming? - An Awesome Tool To Find Out!), you can even calculate the value of your future payment on your items in the pipeline.
I hope this made it a little easier to understand the process of how you earn your money. Its important to grasp this concept if you want to understand other strategies to optimize your account. This step is necessary if you want to know how to calculate the value of awesome upvote services like 
If you have any questions, ask me anytime... I'm here to help and will do my best to answer.
ps... I didn't talk about the payout for curation on purpose, because 1) I haven't been paid much of it yet to figure it out and 2) I didn't want to complicate this post any further. But I repeat (3rd time) you only get paid full value for your upvote if the article is more than 30 minutes old. I tell you this so that you understand how it works and the messages you send.
Let me know what you think :)
As always, be humble... and now thanks to 
