5 Steps to Start A Successful NFT Project

Digital art is the next big thing that happens to crypto at the moment. Moreover, with the introduction of blockchain technology and smart contracts, a new window of opportunity has opened for digital artists or business owners. Additionally, this new opportunity is called NFT or non-fungible token.

Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are cryptographic tokens that represent an asset. The main feature of NFTs is the fact that they are not mutually interchangeable. In other words, they represent a digital asset that is unique and scarce thanks to blockchain technology.

Why have NFTs become so popular most recently? In particular, they function as “proof of ownership” over a digital item and they’ve become all the rage among art collectors and crypto traders in search of the latest, trendy set of JPEGs. All this to flex as their social media PFP (that’s a profile picture). And eventually, sell them at a good profit after holding them for a few months.

Are you interested in starting your own generated NFT collection or want to know what steps are needed to start a successful NFT project? This article explains the necessary steps to find the best team members for your next NFT drop.

Step1 : What type of NFT project to launch?

Initially, to launch your NFT idea or NFT website it’s important to decide where you want to start from. For instance, are you a talented artist and want to convert your existing art collection into NFTs? Or are you having a great idea for generating a brand new 10K NFT art collection?

First, let me explain what exactly NFT art collections are if you are brand new to this NFT subject.

Particularly, NFT generated art collections are created by a computer algorithm and will be stored on a blockchain like Ethereum. The idea is to create scarcity because the collection is limited(10K) and each item has its unique rarity.

To put it simply, if you own an NFT that has a low rarity score, the price of your NFT will rise in value.

Examples of famous NFT collections are:

• Mutant Ape Yacht Club(a collection of 20,000 Mutant Apes, released in 2024)
• CryptoPunks(collection of 10,000 Punks, released in 2017)
• Bored Ape Kennel Club (a collection of 10,000 Bored Apes, released in 2024)
• The SandBox(NFT based game for trading assets(3D), released in 2019)

So, now let’s get back to your brand new NFT project. To continue to the next phase and find your best team members; Make sure you have answers to the following questions:

• What blockchain network will you be using?(Ethereum, Polygon, Solona etc)
• Will your NFTs live on-chain or off-chain?
• Will you take royalties from resale of the NFTs?
• What is the maximum mint amount?
• Will you mint the NFTs, or will you allow the public to mint them?
• What are the built-in features such as randomness, rarity, and voting rights?
• Is there any additional utility built into your NFTs?

Step 2: Get an NFT artist to generate your NFT collection

For creating NFT generated art collection you should find an artist that is specialized in working with AI tools and art collections. Most NFT collections are called ‘10K generated art‘ because of the total number of items the collection has. Additionally, this is in most cases 10,000 items but this can be any number and can be parameterized.

So, what is the definition of generative art? The common process of creating generative art is by running a machine algorithm, no matter if it is created as an NFT or not. Minting a generative art NFT adds a level of uniqueness that could not have been reached before. This is achieved by including inputs to the piece of art such as wallet address, transaction ID, or gas price.

Simply put, there will always exist only one NFT with these exact parameters. Even if another art piece would be created that looks very similar, the parameters included in the NFT piece of generative art would always be different, and so each piece is truly unique.

Creating the NFT collection

At this point, your NFTs will be designed and the collection will be created. To start generating your unique collection, the following should be considered:

• base character(for instance, ‘Bored Ape’)
• background colours(10 or more)
• clothing(types of clothes)
• additional tools(guns, axes, horn, etc)
• types of caps(hats, hoodies, etc)

Finally, all these characteristics mentioned above will be given to the tool which will randomly generate the different items.

Step 3: Find a NFT smart contract developer

Smart contracts are at the core of every NFT and it is crucial for the success of any project that its smart contract is secure and resilient. The next team member in your NFT project will be a blockchain developer that handles the smart contract.

In general, a smart contract is a piece of code that runs on the Ethereum blockchain(or any other) and can be reached by anyone on the blockchain network. You can see this smart contract as an account that runs independently, performs transactions, and even has its own token balance.

What are NFT smart contracts?

NFTs are powered by smart contracts which handle the transferability and verify the ownership. On the Ethereum blockchain, the NFTs run under the ERC-721 standard which stands for a protocol designed to provide special NFT functionality.

List of deliverables for the NFT smart contract

The blockchain developer has to install, test, and eventually deploy the smart contract to Mainnet. Below is the list of possible deliverables:

• Minting
• Presale whitelist
• OpenSea/Rarible listing
• Gifting/Airdrops
• Custom minter/holder benefits
• IPFS immutable storage for NFTs and their traits
• Post-mint reveal
• Bot protection/security
• Wallet integration on your website for minting, pre-sale etc
• Contract optimized for low gas fees

On the whole, the blockchain developer should have the following skills:

• Programming language(Javascript, Rust and Solidity)
• NFT minting and smart contract security

Step 4: Team up with a UX designer or Front End developer

A brand new NFT project is nothing when there isn’t a representative website available. Most NFT projects are using this website to allow visitors to connect their wallets and to mint tokens. Even though minting is a temporary event, it should be available there. Other essential elements are an introduction of the NFTs, a roadmap, links to social media channels, FAQ section, and the team behind the NFT project.

Firstly the UX developer should design a prototype, choose brand colors, make mockups of user pages, and finalize your product’s design. Don’t overlook this step, as the user interface is what your users will see.

Web3-wallet & NFT minting functionality

Remember launching a new NFT website has some necessary additional functionality and differs therefore from a random HTML website. One key element is the web3-wallet that users must use to connect and buy or mint the new NFTs.

List of Deliverables

• Wallet Integration(Metamask, OpenMask etc)
• Smart Contract Connectivity
• NFT Minting
• Public/Private Minting
• Web3, OpenSea Integration
• Dynamic Metadata URL(Reveal NFT)

Ultimately, the UX/ Web3 Developer should have one of the following expertise:

• Nodejs, PHP, Solidity
• JSON, HTML5, Javascript
• ReactJS or Angular

Also, it fully depends on the functionality of the NFT project to decide what kind of developer is needed for this. For example, a website that allows minting your own art collection is different from a brand new NFT-marketplace.

📣Pay attention: In this guide, I have split up the tasks for creating the smart contract(back end) and creating the front-end in two separate steps. Alternatively, you can combine both tasks and try to find a full-stack developer that will handle both functionalities.

Step 5: Marketing & Support

Finally, to let the NFT project be successful it’s important that you and your team should promote it no matter what. Moreover, the NFT project will get nowhere without promotion. Additionally, a good marketing team is a key to success here.

The launch of a Discord server

Building a strong and loyal community is very important before your NFT launch takes off, even during the period after the NFT drop took place. Among young internet users and online gamers, the Discord App is one of the favorite places to hang out.

In short, Discord servers are organized into text and voice channels, which are usually dedicated to specific topics and can have different rules. In chat channels, users can post messages, upload files, and share images for others to see at any time.

Particularly, the different channels members of the NFT community can communicate with each other through text, voice, or video options, such as sharing their computer screens. Also, one of the Discord experts should create different channels, to do announcements, give support and moderate it 24 hours a day.

Build a large following on Social Media

Growing a large following and community is important and to do this by using Twitter, Telegram, TikTok or Instagram could help a lot with this. Given that, the world should know about this exciting new NFT launch!

Of course, it depends on your team size and maybe you should be a little bit selective before using all social media channels. For one thing, it’s important to build a large following and mostly Twitter in combination with Discord server is a good start.

Finally, to get noticed as a brand new NFT project make sure that the team is passionate about the idea and you grab the attention of other NFT artists.

Arrange airdrops, Pre-sale or Whitelisting

One of the main properties of an NFT is scarcity and your team should be fully aware of this. Therefore, arranging give-ways or whitelisting events just a few days before the NFT launch makes it a bit more exclusive.

A perfect place to announce this is the Discord server where you can have full control over the whitelisting process. For example, you can white-list members if they invite other friends to the Discord server.

At the end, when the final mint has taken place, it is also important that the brand new NFT collection gets listed on the famous marketplaces. Remember that it’s important to know which blockchain you are using to contact the right ones. Good examples of famous NFT marketplaces are:

• OpenSea(Ethereum, Polygon)
• Rarible(Ethereum)
• Nifty Gateway(Gemini exchange, Ethereum)
• Axie Marketplace(Ethereum, Axie Infinity game)

Are you or your team running on a low budget? Don't worry! Read this guide about NFT promotion methods. It explains very clear seven methods to promote or marketing your new NFT-drop with zero budget.

Final Words

To summarize, what makes an NFT project successful? First of all, the majority of NFT projects are art collections and therefore subject to the taste of individuals. At the same time, building a community should be a top priority. If your NFT project manages to create a huge fan base before NFT-drop big chance you’ll have a successful launch. In other words, there is no better project launch than a quick sell-out of the entire art collection.

All in all, starting a new NFT art collection can be a lucrative business. However, make sure you find the right team members that will help you in the journey by becoming the next NFT hype.

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