Why I decided NOT to make an NFT

Beeple sold a digital art painting for $69,000,000! That 12 year old kid from England made $400,000 in a few hours with his first NFTs! That other guy just retired after his NFT went through the roof!

Yes, all these stories happened. You saw the headlines. But wait. These stories are headlines for a reason. They are headlines because they are communicating something exceptional that happened to these people. An anomaly in the system. That’s why it’s news. We know that right? But…if you are like me, you stopped listening after “$69,000,000” and went straight to: I want that too!

…maybe this thing no one knows about you could be monetized via NFTs

At first glance it seems so tantalizingly possible:

Learn how to use Photoshop
Draw something cool
Copy paste it with tiny variations a gazillion times
Launch my NFT
Buy an island and retire

I can totally do that!

From the moment I heard all these stories, my mind went into hyperdrive! Honestly, I was thinking about it all day, constantly, I shut it out for brief periods of time to accomplish my compulsory daily activities (eat, work, eat), but other than that, all my mind could process was, “How do I make a million with an NFT? How do I make a million with an NFT? How do I make a million with an NFT?”…and the day was not enough… So I brought all these questions to bed with me, and I tossed and turned all night… “How do I make a million with an NFT? How do I make a million with an NFT?”….aarrggghhh!! It was driving me crazy!

…will the value of my NFT increase over time?

When I hit my third sleepless night, I had enough, and decided this madness needed to stop. I need to put this energy to work and figure out how this whole thing will make me a millionaire! So I embarked on the quest to find out what the secret sauce is for making an insane amount of money with NFTs.

NOTE: There are plenty of articles explaining the basics of how you make NFTs, how you buy and sell NFTs, etc. Perhaps in the future I might write one of those articles myself if I think it can provide added value to the existing online material, but for now, I will skip right to the point and assume you have a basic understanding of how NFTs work.

After all my research, my conclusion was:

I am not in the position to sell NFTs and make any sort of significant profit.

Here are the reasons why:

#1 I don’t have a following or an established presence

I do not have the sort of massive following that is required to generate the interest for an NFT launch. The reason why you see all these digital artists (some truly awesome btw!) is because they have been producing amazing digital art works for years. Way before the word NFT existed. These artists have developed a quasi-maniacal followings through the years. Thousands upon thousands of devotees admire their works, follow their lives, interchange ideas, learn from the masters themselves, retweet their tweets, like their posts…it’s a community. These artists have had an established presence for years.

When NFTs burst into the scene, these digital artists were already uniquely positioned to launch NFTs that millions of people were craving to own. And they became millionaires!

To be fair, for years these same digital artists have been plagued by digital theft, hijacking of their intellectual property, fraud, all sorts of nasty stuff…and all of a sudden…NFTs changed all that (blockchain if you are a purist). And all these artists that had been taking it on the chin their whole lives, powerless to stop their masterpieces from being stolen or desecrated….got paid! Hey, if that is not a feelgood story, I don’t know what is.

My research also showed me that even if you were already an established artist, this would not guarantee success either. As wonderful a medium as this is for digital artists, the sheer number of artists submitting their works to these NFT marketplaces has flooded the supply side of the equation. So even if you have an established presence and following, you will still face a very competitive arena.

#2 I don’t have a promotional team

The days where you could set up a Discord group, chat about your NFT project, give away a few emoticons, announce a launch, and cash in…are long past. There could be the odd one out that generates a splash every now and then, but for the most part, the launching of an NFT nowadays is a highly sophisticated process. It reminds me of how ICOs (initial coin offerings for cryptos) look like. Interestingly enough, the launching of an NFT is not really a technical endeavor…the “technical part” about launching an NFT is minimal compared to the marketing component. There are armies of promotional agents, social media experts and influencers, creating buzz the whole ride through till launch date. Social media bursts, email campaigns, ad campaigns, press releases, roping in celebrities to promote their NFT, interviews and appearances….it’s a complete circus!

#3 I cannot increase the value of my NFT

One of the most asked questions potential buyers would have is, will the value of my NFT increase over time? They are looking at NFTs as an investment, so there should be a clear path that shows that potential. There would need to be a reason why an NFT that costs 0.01 ETH today would cost 0.03 in the future, and potential NFT investors would need to truly believe in it before they are sold.

#4 I don’t have utility to offer

There is “another” way to sell an NFT. The concept of the “utility” of an NFT can attract buyers if what’s on offer satisfies a demand. Some examples would be offering access to a “members only” area of your website, exclusive content, merchandise (t-shirts, caps, buttons, etc.) invites to actual live events, parties, conferences, or 1 – 1 consulting time. If these are of interest to your target audience, this could be a demand driver for your NFT.

Not an NFT millionaire…for now…

So no, I don’t have what it takes to be the next NFT millionaire. But, not all is lost. The NFT world is in its infancy, it hasn’t even gotten to the baby steps yet. If you take the speed at which this industry is developing, I think that we could see huge potential in the expanding scope of NFTs and the new markets it creates. I would not take my eye off the ball if I thought I would have even the tiniest of hidden talents in me. Who knows, maybe this thing no one knows about you could be monetized via NFTs in the very near future.