NFT101: How Freelance Creatives Can Benefit From It
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are getting creatives excited, and it’s no wonder. With digital artist Beeple auctioning his works for a cool $69 million at Christie’s in March 2021, bought in Singapore we might add. An exciting world of possibilities lies ahead.
That’s why CreativesAtWork partnered e2i to organise an NFT101 workshop on 16 December 2021 to help freelance creatives understand the opportunities abound. We had the pleasure of hosting three guest speakers to share their insights with us. They are:
Felix Lee, a catalyst and connector of multi-dimensional businesses around content, community, and design innovation.
Henry Ong, artist and entrepreneur. His father is the famous watercolour artist Mr Ong Kim Seng.
Cen Lee, digital marketer. Conversant with blockchain tech and crypto.
What are NFTs?
NFTs are a form of digital asset that exist within a blockchain. NFTs are commonly misconstrued to be a form of cryptocurrency, which they are not. However, they are related since you can only buy NFTs using cryptocurrency.
To be “fungible” means easily exchangeable – such as currency – so “non-fungible” means unique and not interchangeable.
“Blockchain” is like having a room full of studious auditors who know of every single NFT creation and buy/sell transactions. What this means is that with NFTs, you cannot conceal these facts because the details are being recorded by many so-called auditors (computers).
To illustrate an NFT, say you have a physical photograph in the real world. You scan it, and now it’s digitised for the virtual world. Then you “mint” it and pay a “gas fee” to list it on an NFT marketplace. As the artist, you retain the copyright and the physical item. Meanwhile, the digitised product enters a blockchain marketplace, and people can buy it from you and resell it if they want to. To attract buyers, you’ll need good marketing, which we’ll touch on later.
Since NFTs run in a blockchain, are they protected from piracy? Unfortunately not. There’s no way to stop people from copying your work and creating digital assets. You’ll have to take traditional legal action if this happens.
NFTs… What’s In It For Me?
The ability to turn art into a new form of digital asset means there are opportunities to diversify your business and monetise your creations.
Examples of digital assets include illustrations, GIFs, recipes, video clips, paintings, prints, movie scripts, game spaces etc.
There are several NFT marketplaces that you can sell on. Some will be more suitable for you depending on your speciality. You can explore OpenSea, Infinity, Rarible and Solana. Again, all of them transact via cryptocurrency. You cannot use fiat currency to pay for your NFT purchases, although some websites will show the US$ equivalent.
Cen explained that many marketplaces are powered by blockchain-based software platform Ethereum, which currently charges around US$80 in gas fees. Their fees fluctuate depending on how congested the network is. Another platform, Polygon, only charges less than 10 cents for gas fees. The process of minting your art is free.
When selling NFTs, it’s common practice to throw in a deal sweetener. This could be a certificate, weekly video calls, artefacts or other gifts – it’s up to you.
The opportunities in NFTs lie in sharing your skills and collaborating with other creatives. According to Felix, the key is to produce multidimensional digital goods for the virtual world. For instance, Henry might want to take one of his father’s watercolour paintings of Chinatown during the 1970s and give it a 3D dimension with some animation. He could add in sounds of the hustle and bustle to give people a nostalgic feeling.
This is a promising idea because sales of NFTs are driven by emotions. For example, a 17-year-old artist called Justin is known for creating Dunescapes NFTs. By his fourth piece, he was earning over USD$100,000. His pieces are famous because there’s a calm loneliness about them which resonate with certain groups of collectors.
The Role of Marketing in NFTs
Unsurprisingly, selling profitable NFTs requires good marketing to help you stand out in the ocean of creators and attract the right buyers.
Ideally, your portfolio should have a theme. You can use different media as long as your theme is clear. Your profile should be strategic in convincing buyers that:
You’re not a one-off NFT creator
Your works are original, not copied
Your NFTs are genuine and not created by an algorithm
Marketing for NFTs happens on the usual social media platforms, like any other product. Except NFT buyers are not your general population – they are collectors. This means that they:
Tend to make strong emotional attachments
Likely made a lot of money from the Bitcoin era
Believe in the future of virtual worlds
Conclusion on NFTs
Despite the general scepticism, NFTs are not a fad. They’re here to stay, although Felix warns that they’re not good if you’re only in it for short-term monetary gains.
He also notes there’s a lack of Asian, oriental and rustic NFT content. This presents many opportunities for freelance creatives here to fill the market gap. Teaming up is the future because future NFT is headed toward combining 2D artworks with music within 3D spaces, which incidentally was created in the 90s by the gaming industry called MMORPGs or persistent worlds.
For Henry, he shared that whenever his dad sold a painting, his dad would be happy but the family would be sad to part with it. NFTs are transforming the landscape by allowing you to sell your art in a digital form while you keep the physical form, if that’s what your preferred choice.
Watch the full replay of the NFT101 workshop. Follow our Facebook page for updates on upcoming events.
Interested in an NFT collaboration? Get in touch with us!
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