Getting Started Making NFTs
Hello everyone, welcome to the world of NFTs.
You may be new to blockchain and crypto, or you may have been in crypto for years at this point - but you in both cases - you probably are just now learning about NFTs.
This will be a guide that is ever-living/changing to help introduce NFTs, what gives them value and how you can get started in the NFT space.
What exactly is a Non-Fungible Token or NFT?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique, individual token existing on a blockchain such as Ethereum. Unlike cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, each NFT token contains unique data meaning non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable with each other. This non-fungible nature of the tokens means their use cases differ greatly from their fungible counterparts.
A normal token can be exchanged for the same type of token equally without any difference.
A good example is a dollar - if you and I both have a dollar — we can swap dollars and it doesn’t matter, neither of us lose out they are equal. Whereas, with non-fungible tokens they are both >unique, meaning if we both have an NFT, mine could be a baseball card, and yours could be your Birth Certificate — obviously we cannot exchange these two >equally. Therefore making our tokens non-fungible.
Non-fungible tokens are used to create verifiable digital scarcity. NFTs are used in several specific applications that require unique digital items. This has initially proven popular for blockchain games and collectibles like CryptoKitties on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs can also be used to represent in-game assets, which are in control of the user instead of the game developer. One exciting benefit of this arrangement means the non-fungible tokens or digital items, may actually outlive the game they were initially created for and find incorporate into separate future games. Yet another potential use is in digital art, by helping prove authenticity and ownership.
Artwork is another example of how powerful NFTs can be. By allowing artists to create artwork on the blockchain as NFTs, it means their content now becomes sellable globally, on decentralized marketplaces. Providing a means to collect, earn, and make a living off crypto.
NFTs are one of the best ways to actually earn crypto over time, without needing to invest in it directly. (unlike scams that say the same thing, NFTs are legit. Its like opening a store on ebay or etsy, your trading your time and work for money).
What gives an NFT its value?
There are a number of reasons to buy NFTs.
Unique - Each NFT is unique, it's the only one of its kind. You cannot make another NFT that is the same token number on the same smart contract. Meaning there will only ever be one of that token. This is verified by the blockchain and can be seen by anyone.
Copyright - Your NFT might come with copyright if you are using Mintable.app. If the seller chooses to do so - it means that it's on the blockchain that the owner of that token would have complete commercial copyright to use that image and asset.
Rare - Since they are unique and cannot be copied, they are rare. Most of the time, there are very few NFTs from an artist or seller - very rarely do they have 1000s of NFTs. Therefore, you can safely assume you would be one of the few people in the world that owns an collectible item, that can be resold.
Collectible - These NFTs/items are collectible. You can hold onto them, and their value will only go up in price since there are few ways to dilute the collection. Buying them to resell them can earn you thousands of dollars. There are plenty of people who do it every day and earn a living from it.
Downloadable - If on most marketplaces, only the current owner of the NFT can download the file attached to it. Making it unlockable to the owner. If your NFT has something like, game assets, music, a PDF, or more locked inside it, you might want to buy the NFT just to download that song/PDF/etc.
Immutable - No one can change the metadata on the token, no one can remove your image, or the name of the token, etc. This means it will never change, it will never be removed, it cannot be taken down off the blockchain. This is what gives it so much value and collectibility
Forever - NFTs are forever. Because the data doesn't change, and because the blockchain is forever, you will always have that token if you buy it. You can always resell that token if you want. Its like buying a bar of gold - you own it, and you can do with it what you want.
Resellable - You can always resell your NFT. You SHOULD resell your NFT and trade it. You can make some serious cash trading NFTs. Some NFTs have gone for 20,000 USD + when the original buyer only bought it for a few thousand dollars. Making them over 15,000 USD in a short time in ONE trade!
How do I get started with Buying/Trading NFTs?
Step 1: Buy Ethereum
You need ETH (Or a coin with smart contract NFT implementation) and an Ethereum wallet to get started. The most common is Metamask.io - then you add some ETH into that wallet. This is required by all sites in order to interact with an Ethereum application. To buy ETH (Or other coins with smart contracts) for gas fees you can use Binance and Coinbase.
Step 2: Find a marketplace.
The top NFT marketplaces are currently:
Foundation
Solana
There are more NFT marketplaces but these are the leading open marketplaces, others may not be open to all NFTs and only select items
Some of these let you create your own NFTs (if your a creator) and some of them are closed like SuperRare, where only approved artists can create items.
Below we will discuss creating NFTs.
How do I get started minting NFTs?
You can create a digital art token by carefully following the steps below:
1. Select an NFT Marketplace
OpenSea (OpenSea.io is the industry’s largest NFT Marketplace)
This is the very first step to creating your NFT artwork. There are two categories of this peer-to-peer marketplace that you can choose from, they are:
Curated Platforms: This NFT marketplace category allows only authorized artists to mint or create digital art tokens. They are mainly focused on high-quality digital art tokens, not just simple and low-quality collectibles.
Platforms like SuperRare are curated NFT marketplaces. They have higher transaction fees and lower flexibility on the royalty percentages you can program into your artwork.
Self-Service Platforms: This category of the peer-to-peer marketplace allows everyone to create their NFT with whatever they like. So, you can make yours with either a photo, a video, or an audio file. It also allows you to set whatever percentage of royalty you would like to charge for each token sale.
Platforms like OpenSea and Rarible fall under this category.
Once you have selected the marketplace you want to use and opened an account with it, it is time for the next step. However, since this article promises to be beginner-friendly, it uses the marketplace, OpenSea, as a case study on how to create your digital arts token.
2. Set Up a Digital Wallet
Metamask
The next step is to create a digital wallet to store both your cryptocurrencies and your NFTs. Yes, cryptocurrencies, Ether precisely, are needed in the NFT creation process.
It would help if you had Ether since several NFTs are created on the Ethereum blockchain. The ETH is used to pay the gas fee, the Ethereum blockchain transaction cost before listing any token you have made.
OpenSea usually recommends using the Google Chrome extension of the MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet, purchasing your ETH, and getting ready to mint NFTs.
However, suppose you already have another cryptocurrency wallet with ETH in it. In that case, you can create a Metamask wallet and transfer the ETH from your original wallet to the MetaMask wallet.
It costs about £10 to £200 worth of ETH to pay for gas fees while creating an NFT. So, if your funds are ready, get into the next step.
3. Create Your Collection
You are not creating your digital arts token yet at this point. On the interface of your OpenSea account, you will see My Collections; click it. It serves as a store or gallery of your digital arts.
Now, you need to customize your collection by entering a name for it, writing out the description, and uploading a display image. This creates the groundwork for you to display your artworks when you have created them.
4. Creating Your Digital Arts Token
Create new NFT token
Once you have finalized your collection, it is time to enter into the primary process of creating your NFT. Click on Add New Item, and it will provide you with the option to upload metadata which includes visual (JPG, PNG, GIF, etc.), audio (MP3, etc.), and 3D files (GLB, etc.) and give your token a name.
You can choose to mint an unlimited number of tokens, but you do it one at a time. It is also important to note how many editions of the same token you want to create.
-Stand-alone Token: This implies that you can only create one copy of that particular digital art token, making it even more valuable.
-The Edition Tokens: Here, you create as many copies of the same token as you can. You only have to add the edition number to differentiate between each replica.
Next, you can add properties, levels, and stats where relevant, as they enable the buyers who are exploring your collection to filter your artwork. Properties can be something like the date you created the token.
Once you have added all the necessary details, including social links, updated image, description, and name, click “Create” to add your NFT to the blockchain, and this step would require ETH to pay for approval and gas fees.
Next, you can choose the payment tokens that you would like to accept for your digital art. You can also select the percentage of royalty to receive on the secondary sales of your artwork.
5. Listing Your Artwork For Sale
Once you have created your NFTs, the next thing to do is to list them for sale. You can either choose a fixed-price listing or auction and set your price.
If it is your first time creating and selling an NFT, you will have to pay a gas fee before listing your artwork.
Gas Fees
Gas fees are payments made by users to compensate for the computing energy required to process and validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. "Gas limit" refers to the maximum amount of gas (or energy) that you're willing to spend on a particular transaction. To buy ETH for gas fees I use Coinbase and Binance. Gas fees fluctuate from hour to hour. You can check to see when they are cheapest at Ether Scan.
As of when this post is written a NFT (on the ETH blockchain) can cost between $60 and $300 to mint. Minting gas fees are much cheaper on "Proof of Stake" (PoS) cryptos such as ADA, BnB, and DOT.
6. Promote Your Work On Social Media
The biggest challenge that most people have is advertising their NFT. The vast majority of NFTs never get sold. I have effective marketing strategies that will help to promote your NFT to reach sales. I promote on various social media platforms such as: Twitter, Reddit, and Discord, and clients I have worked for had success getting exposure to their NFTs and eventually leads to sales. Check out my full marketing strategy here.