Welcome to Crypto-4-Beginners, in this blog we will explore the expanding world of NFTs. I'll show you how to make them, how to reduce cost while making them, and the most important part, how to market and sell them. This one is going to be long so grab a snack and let's dive in!!!
NFTs are "Non-Fungible Tokens", and I'll assume that you already know the difference between a fungible token, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, and a non-fungible-token such as a CryptoKitty or God's Unchained digital collectable trading card. If you don't, do a quick google, we're going past the basic's in this guide.
If you're not quite an expert in NFTs, you probably think they're just digital collectables, but the truth is, NFTs are quickly breaking into other niches. NFTs have found their way into not just digital collectables, but are becoming integral in gaming, especially in virtual reality, but also in other areas such as; art, music, finance, and more... In short, NFTs represent ownership of digital assets.
What exactly is an NFT and how do you store it?
An NFT (On the Ethereum blockchain) is an ERC-721 token. They are stored in your digital wallet, similar to how a cryptocurrency, such as ETH is stored in your digital wallet. To keep things simple, we will work with the MetaMask digital wallet. To continue, you should have a MetaMask wallet. If not, download MetaMask and create a digital wallet.
How to Make NFTs
First you want to go to OpenSea.
https://opensea.io?ref=0x28377ab4281955c857ee860a0ef3ddf2e6143ae5
OpenSea is the current largest NFT marketplace.
The first thing you need to do is link your MetaMask wallet to OpenSea. This is how you "sign in" to crypto-NFT eco-systems.
Once your MetaMask is linked to OpenSea, you're ready to either browse the marketplace or start to create your own NFTs. It's good to browses first, this will help give you a general sense of whats on the market for NFTs.
But, you're here to create, so let's do that. On the OpenSea home page, you'll see in the top right corner, "Create", then select "MyCollections".
On the MyCreations page, scroll to the bottom and you'll see four options: Rarible, Mintbase, Cargo and Mintable. These are platforms that allow you to "Mint" (create) NFTs, and then you'll have the option to export them to the OpenSea marketplace.
- Rarible:
If you decide to make an NFT on Rarible, you'll need to select the Rarible icon, which takes you to the Rarible website. There you'll have to connect your wallet (select MetaMask). Once your wallet is connected to Rarible, select "Create". You'll have the option to create a single NFT or multiple copies of the NFT.
Next you'll be brought to a template with several options. You'll need to upload a file from your computer. This will be what the actual NFT is representing. You can choose to put your NFT on sale for a specific price, or to accept bids. You can choose to create an ERC-721 token, in which once created will go directly on the Ethereum blockchain, and you'll likely pay a hefty transaction fee. Or you can choose to mint it on Rarible, which will cost less, but could still be costly. The advantages to using Rarible is that you can set royalties. By setting royalties, you'll be paid a percentage of future sales. So, for example, lets say you make an NFT, and sell it for 1 ETH and set the royalties to 10%. Then someone buys the NFT, and you get paid 1 ETH. Then that person resells it for 2 ETH, you get 10% of the 2 ETH (0.2 ETH).
Upon making NFTs this way, you'll need to pay two transaction fee's to create the NFT and set up the sale contract.
- How to make an NFT without paying transaction fees:
Go back to the OpenSea platform, select "Create" and then "MyCollections". On the MyCollections page you'll see "Create New Collection" and click on "Create".
Fill out the template and press create. This will create the NFT. If its your first time doing this, there will be an initial transaction fee to pay to open the contract. But any other NFT you create after that will be free.
Once created, you'll be able to select "Add New Item". Again, if its your first time, you'll need to pay an initial transaction fee to pay to open the sales contract. But any other NFT you create after that will be free.
Creating an NFT this way allows you to set the price, if you want a direct sale, or auction, and you can select the royalties option just as you would with Rarible. The difference here is that the NFT is created off-chain, meaning its made, but not on the blockchain just yet. Once a buyer purchases the NFT it will be put on-chain, but the buyer will have to cover the transactional cost avoided by the creator of the NFT. This means that the buyer will pay the price of the NFT that you list, plus the operational cost associated with creating the NFT.
- Mintable
This is likely the best platform to start with. You can create an NFT absolutely free. Again, connect your MetaMask wallet, select "MyAccount", then "Profile" and "Create an Item". The difference here is you don't get any royalties for sales after the initial sale. But, the advantage is you can create NFTs for free, list them, and the buyer doesn't pay additional cost above the sales price.
- How to Sell NFTs you create:
Once an NFT is created, you have the option of listing it for sale. Once you choose what type of sale (direct sale or auction), it becomes listed in OpenSea (and/or on Rarible, Mintable, etc...).
Once listed, buyers will be able to see it on OpenSea or the other platforms you have it listed on. However, OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs currently, is a sea of NFTs. It's very easy to have your own creations over looked or buried in the sea of my NFTs. That's where marketing skills come in. While it's possible your NFT will be seen by buyers, its best to use other gimmicks to help market your NFT.
- Marketing strategies for NFTs:
You'll be able to share the link to your NFT listed on OpenSea (or other marketplaces), but this might not be enough. Especially if you don't want to be spamming the link in multiple places online.
One good option is to first build a little community of followers interested in the niche of your NFT type. Is your NFT a collectable, a piece of art for a VR world, a photo, or maybe a game piece for a card or video game? By having a community that's interested, you can place the link on your Twitter, or Facebook group, or even a website that generates traffic.
Another good option is to do whats called an AirDrop. This is where you give the NFT away for free. This option is smart because most people that would be on the receiving end of an AirDrop will likely want to get the NFT to resell. If you've set the royalties then you'll make on that resale, and any sale after.
Its good to note that NFTs are sold for cryptocurrencies, often times ETH. So its likely someone's strategy is to buy NFTs, hold them, and then resell at the same price they bought. They do this because the price of ETH (or whatever cryptocurrency) is appreciating in value. For example, if you were to buy an NFT for 1 ETH when ETH is worth 1000$, and then sell the NFT for 1 ETH when ETH is worth 2000$, you'd have made 1000$.
I hope this was helpful to anyone interested in making their own NFTs. This is just a starting point and the whole space is evolving quickly.
Here's the link to OpenSea, make your mark!
https://opensea.io?ref=0x28377ab4281955c857ee860a0ef3ddf2e6143ae5
