NFTs gained initial fame in the art world, with multi-million dollar “JPEG sales” repeatedly making headlines worldwide and Sotheby’s even launching their own metaverse. But it’s their growing number of applications in gaming and smart contracts in business that has kept them hot news. 🔥 Whether you’re just coming across NFTs or have been following their meteoric rise over the past year, you might be wondering how to get started yourself. 

So you’ve got your bright idea, but what next? 🤔 For those looking to make their mark, here’s our step-by-step guide to creating and selling NFTs. 

Step 1: Create your digital file

Let’s presume in this example you are an artist. An NFT can take on a myriad of digital forms – JPEGs, GIFs, videos, and so on – the most important thing is to make sure you are the owner of the work. While it’s in the nature of artists to experiment and push boundaries, this can leave you in some hot water if you’re not careful. One example would be the artist currently being sued by Hermès for selling unauthorized metabirkins. Make sure your work is unique so you can be sure of your intellectual property rights. 

Step 2: Set up your digital wallet

You may already be familiar with digital wallets and even have one set up on your smartphone. Collectors tend to store NFTs in their wallets, but as a creator you need one too to be able to accept payments. Digital wallets are set up to be accessible from multiple mobile and desktop devices and make things like contactless payments and e-payments quick and easy. To next set up your NFT you’ll first need to acquire some cryptocurrency. At this point, the most commonly associated cryptocurrency with NFTs currently is Ethereum, which can be bought via your Venly wallet. 

👉 Read more: How to create a Venly digital wallet.

Step 3: Mint your NFT

Minting your NFT, where you add the data of your digital file to the blockchain, is the next stage of your process. When it comes to the minting process, it’s important to understand the difference between the token standards and what choosing between ERC-721 and ERC-1155 means. Simply put, an ERC-721 token can be tied to one NFT only, whereas an ERC-1155 token can be tied to multiple NFTs such as a collection, which can then each be assigned their own mint number. 

👉 Learn more: Understanding the difference token standards.

Step 4: Select your NFT marketplace

Once you’ve created your unique digital asset(s) and minted them as NFTs, the next step is to get them on a marketplace. Choosing a marketplace such as Venly that is blockchain agnostic is beneficial for making it simpler for buyers to purchase in their preferred currency. Using an agnostic platform – one that can host multiple blockchains – also helps to future-proof the utility of your NFT so it can continue to be easily accessed and traded. 

👉 Visit the Venly Marketplace to discover NFTs for sale.

Step 5: Set up your sale strategy 

Choosing a marketplace like Venly also allows you to have your collection verified so you can request to receive up to 10% royalty fees from secondary sales. The great thing about NFTs is that this is automatically defined in their underlying smart contract. When setting your price, royalty fees are something to consider since a high price will see most of your income come from the primary sale. In contrast, a low starting price makes it more likely your NFT will be traded on the secondary market, where you receive a royalty fee each time it’s sold. 

A large part of what has made NFTs so popular has been their ability to leverage scarcity. While this might seem strange for a digital asset often on view for everyone to see already, limited ownership can be used to create communities and perks that only owners have access to. Similar to streetwear and luxury brands, the pre-hyping of a limited release has been one way artists are making sure their NFT collections sell out. 

Ready to get started? Check out some of the Venly Market featured collections if you’re looking for more inspiration. 🤓