Recently, a piece of NFT art sold for an incredible $69 million at an auction! Many attribute the climbing interest in NFTs, in part, to this sale. Of course, this newfound attention is attracting quite a few newcomers to the NFT space.
What should beginners keep in mind before starting an NFT project, though? Well, first of all, creating NFTs isn’t considered the most simple process in the world. It takes quite a bit of time and effort unless you can make a sizeable investment and delegate tasks to others.
If you’re interested in launching your own NFT project, you can take a few steps to make sure you do it right. Consider reading ahead for more info.
Creating an NFT Project
Many believe that the foundation for any NFT project involves art. The truth is, NFTs are often more about the technology or value behind them than they are about the art.
Artists can make money with digitally published art by selling them as blockchain assets, sure. But, buyers are oftentimes more interested in what they can get back from the investment in the long run. So, the first thing you’ll want to determine is what you can offer other than your art.
NFT Art: Getting Started
Determining the value behind your project requires that you get really, really creative. You can use some examples for inspiration, though. Gary Vee, for example, prices his NFTs in the tens of thousands of dollars.
His NFTs offer access to exclusive access to some of his events. This can include motivational speeches, interviews, and even parties. So, you’re not just buying his art, but also a ticket and proof of purchase that will live in perpetuity on a blockchain.
So, once you’ve determined the value you want to offer behind your art, you’re ready to start. The next step is to create the art itself. As you might assume, this also involves a lot of creativity; the entire process behind NFTs seems to require quite a bit of creativity.
Many upload scans of hand-drawn or painted content, while others turn to artificial intelligence to create automatically generated works of art. There’s one extremely popular format that you should keep in mind, though.
Generated Artwork
Before getting to the blockchain, you’ll want to learn how to work with and create generated artwork. Well, it has many names, but it’s basically artwork that’s generated by an algorithm, selecting one randomized layer for each part of the piece.
It requires quite a bit of work and decent knowledge in coding. You can find a plethora of guides online, but here’s what you’ll need before getting started:
- Visual Studio
- GIMP or Photoshop
- Github Account
- Node.js
Of course, you don’t have to use generated art, but it’s highly recommended for beginners in the NFT space.
Minting Your NFTs
Once your art is ready, and you know what value you’re providing behind them, it’s time to mint your NFTs. Minting an NFT is the process by which you load the metadata of your NFT onto a blockchain. This usually has a direct link to your art and is solid proof of ownership for buyers.
There are two primary ways to mint your NFTs. You can do it yourself using different coding languages, or do so on a platform. If you decide to take the DIY route, you’ll need some knowledge of Solidity, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and how to navigate an IPFS service.
It’s usually better to start with a pre-existing service on an NFT platform or marketplace. Some of these include OpenSea, Rarible, and Holaplex. Read, carefully, through which blockchains each platform supports.
Most consider Ethereum the standard for NFT minting. However, Solana and Polygon are gaining popularity thanks to their ease of use and accessibility. If you’re set on releasing large collections, consider sticking to Polygon. For smaller projects, you might do better with Ethereum.
Once you’re ready to start minting, you’ll need to create a wallet and deposit some funds. The most popular wallet, at the moment, is Metamask. It’s easy to use, is available as an extension for most internet browsers, and is considered very secure.
Offering an NFT Art Investment Value
After following the instructions on your chosen platform, or minting your art yourself, it’s time to start backing up those NFTs with the aforementioned value you decided on. This involves creating a list of buyers and prepping properly to distribute or share that value. If it’s merch, you’ll have to coordinate with every buyer separately on getting those goods delivered to them.
You might not have additional value for buyers. No need to fret. You can read on here for an example of enticing and impressing buyers without adding value on the side!
The most common, and free, way to add some kind of value involves creating a community. To do so, consider putting together a Discord server, Twitter group, and website.
Sharing Your Published Art
Now comes what many consider the hardest part of creating NFT art, the distribution. Many platforms and websites are saturated with millions of NFTs. So, finding your buyers can be quite difficult.
The best way to stand out amongst the crowd is to create compelling content on various social media channels. Yes, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are the best ways to sell your NFT art. It might seem silly, but it works.
NFT Art: A Tricky Journey
Putting together an impressive NFT project is no easy task. Freelancers can charge upwards of thousands of dollars for just the basics. It’s far from impossible, though.
First, gather your thoughts and determine whether or not you can add unique value to your project. If you can, you’re off to a great start. Next, you’ll need to create the artwork; you can use generative art or opt for hand-crafted work.
Finally, it’s time to mint, publish, and start sharing your NFT project. If you’re lucky and put in work every day, you’ll start attracting your buyers relatively quickly.
Hopefully, this article provided you with some useful information on starting your NFT project. If it did, consider taking a look at some of the other posts on the site.
