To partake in the NFT marketplace, one must have an NFT! Without this in your wallet, you would neither be able to buy nor sell within the NFT marketplace. This means one has to find a way to acquire NFT either by purchase or creation.
This article would walk you through all you need to know about creating an NFT of your own! Thus, after digesting the content of this article, you should be able to create your NFT via the easiest method present on earth at the moment! You would be given a step-by-step guide on how to go about this, so, no worries!
Now, before we delve into this subject matter, you need to identify a platform on which you would base your NFT production (minting). The most popular one among first-time NFT creators is the OpenSea platform. There are many other platforms e.g Rarible, Holaplex & Objkt. Make your research and decide on which platform to use in your NFT minting process. The OpenSea platform is very popular because it is easy to operate and it does not require any sort of coding skills.
While making your research on which platform to host your NFT, take note of the following points in your research.
- The blockchain used e.g Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, etc, and the implication of each on your minting process
- The compatible wallet for the platform
- The creator fees charged (and whether you can use the ‘lazy mint’ option or not
The lazy mint option allows you, the creator, to upload your artwork onto your profile and list it for sale without paying ‘gas fees’ otherwise known as ‘transaction fees.’ The gas fee is paid by the NFT collector when the person comes to buy it.
Having established the platform to be used in your minting process, follow the steps below religiously.
Build and engage your online social community
The NFT market thrives on social media platforms such as Twitter and Discord. Thus, most of the important information you would need to acquire and disseminate should be routed through these platforms. Endeavor to build authentic relationships and communicate well on these platforms. This would exponentially increase your NFTs market potential. Ensure your followers are well engaged at all times. Once you are successful at building a loyal following on these platforms, selling your NFTs would be a piece of the cake!
A faithful and loyal following would serve as a primary means of engaging your NFTs and spreading the word about your projects to the world as they tag and talk about it. This means you would only need to spend very little on marketing once you have a fully engaging following on Twitter and Discord. Yet, your projects would enjoy publicity in the best of places via word-of-mouth testimonies from your followers.
Set up your digital wallet
Since you would need some cryptocurrency to fund the initial part of publishing your NFT on the NFT platform of your choice, you would need to open a wallet for this purpose. Top NFT wallets include Math wallet, Metamask, AlphaWallet, Coinbase wallet, and Trust wallet. Having set up your wallet, you would need to fund the wallet with an adequate cryptocurrency as needed by your NFT platform.
Create your artwork
Now, you need to convert your artwork (i.e painting, music, tweet, picture, or meme whose intellectual property you own) into its digital equivalent. You might need to use Adobe Photoshop (or any other suitable illustrator), an Apple pencil on your iPad as well as any means to illustrate your artwork adequately.
- Make use of materials you can afford or those within your reach
- Invest heavily in knowledge or new technology as you deem it necessary
- Be curious. Learn from other creators
- Keep the taste of your audience in mind as you create your digital artwork
- Decide on the components to be included in your NFT. Would it have either audio, visual, or written components, or all the components would be included?
- Choose a suitable file type. The most acceptable file types are png, jpg, gif, mp4, SVG, WebM, wav, mp3, Ogg, gltf, and glb.
- Consider the file size limit on the platform of your choice.
- Make the work as comprehensible as possible.
- Be flexible and open to innovations. Endeavor to try new things.
Ensure the article for which you are creating an NFT is yours. Creating an NFT for an item for which you do not have exclusive ownership could land you in a serious legal tussle.
Mint and share your work:
On OpenSea, the minting process is as simple as uploading your files, filling in your collection’s description, setting up your profile, and setting your royalties. Once your NFT has been successfully minted, it would appear on your profile.
Through Etherscan, available on the Ethereum blockchain in OpenSea, all transactions relating to your NFT as well as price changes over time would be made available to the public.
However, to protect your privacy from the prying eyes of the public, you can adopt pseudonyms and make use of several wallets (this is legal within the blockchain network).
Sell your NFT
Once your artwork or valuable has been successfully digitized and published on your profile, you can now list it for sale at a price of your choice. The NFT remains there for a set period of time before it is eventually bought or delisted. Top NFT marketplaces include Axie, OpenSea, Larva Labs / CryptoPunks, Rarible, NBA Top Shot, SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, Foundation, ThetaDrop, and Mintable. Do your research on each of the markets places and decided which of them would be most suitable for your NFT
The sale of NFTs is gaining more popularity by the day! It is highly profitable and is definitely worth a trial. Once all the above have been done, you can be very sure of being a success in the NFT marketplace no matter what.