Want to launch an NFT project? Here’s where to start
So you have an idea for a NFT project? Here’s a list of things you need to know before you can get started.
So you have an idea for a NFT project? Here’s a list of things you need to know before you can get started.
The origin story
You need an origin story. Every good project has one.
For me, my origin story starts at birth. It’s 32 years in the making. I’ve always been told I have a great laugh, a contagious laugh, the best laugh, etc but it wasn’t until January 2021 when I landed on Clubhouse that those occasional mentions turned into daily, if not multiple times per day, mentions and requests by countless people to turn my laugh into an NFT.
Needless to say at that point in time, I had no idea what an NFT even was, let alone how to create one. And to be honest, I wasn’t too interested in doing it. 🤪
But I wised up when I realized what could be built with an NFT project and so, here I am today, turning my laugh into a platform to make 1 BILLION people laugh. It sounds crazy, but the best ideas often do.
That’s my origin story, what’s yours?
Once you have your origin story, you need to develop your initial concept for the project, think through the mission, the number of NFTs you’re going to create, the price, and the blockchain you’re going to build on.
Well that’s a lot to digest, let’s break it down.
The concept
My concept for crypto cackles has changed and evolved as I’ve learned more about web3 and all the possibilities — and that’s perfectly fine. Your project should evolve, it’s natural. In fact, I’d be worried if it didn’t.
When I originally came up with the concept for the project, it was called Best Laugh Ever. I know — not my best work. 🤪 And it didn’t have like three quarters of what we’re doing now. What can I say? I’m a founder at heart. I love to build.
I went from a base concept of NFTing a single laugh, to creating 101 animated laughing hyenas with individual characteristics and two unique laugh tracks. And from there, I realized we could build in the metaverse. Yep, you can buy land in a metaverse and build there. My idea? To bring comedy clubs and laughter yoga studios to the metaverse. Pair this with the friendships I’ve been developing with comedians and certified laughter yoga instructors, we’re well on our way to making this a reality.
The mission
The easiest way to get people to build a community around an idea is to have a mission everyone can rally around. For us at crypto cackles that mission is two-fold. One is to bring laughter, jokes, and joy to the metaverse and the other part of it is to make 1 BILLION people laugh. As an aside and to clarify for people who have heard me say in the past, our mission is to bring laughter, jokes, and joy to the blockchain, that is also still true. But I felt switching to metaverse was more encompassing of the long-term mission for the project.
I’ve found when you can relate your mission to something that feels “more tangible,” something that people can visualize or equate to something in some way, it makes what you’re building resonate more deeply.
Collection size + price + blockchain
This is a common question I see asked, how big should my collection be? How should I price it? What blockchain should I build on? The answer is… complicated. It depends.
The way I’m thinking about crypto cackles currently is as follows: this is an interesting space that I want to invest my time and money into. It’s also super early and lots of technology is changing quickly, how can I start to build a long-term sustainable project? How can I balance all of this so I can make some money but also be able to reinvest into the future of the project and grow it organically.
So I decided to do a small drop. 101 laughing hyenas listed for .101 ETH. When the project sells out, I’ll have a little more than 10 ETH (which obviously isn’t that much), but what I will have is validation in my project and the conviction to carry on building it. That’s why if you take a look at my roadmap, I’m planning to initiate work on a second collection after selling out with 1001 more NFTs.
Collection size has two major implications: how much money you can raise and how many people can initially buy into the community, so as you can imagine it’s important to think through what number makes sense for you and your team.
I chose the number and price for the initial genesis collection because 101 looks like lol. But I got there after doing some research about hyenas. As it turns out, hyenas live in social groups called clans that consist of up to 130 members so our 101 drop seems reasonable (more cool hyena facts can be found on our website). It also allows me to build out the project organically and manage expectations as well as find a tight-knit group of ‘yenas that love to laugh.
Of course, maybe we raise the price on each collection by one lol (or rather, .101)…hmmm. When you’re thinking through the pricing, at the very least figure out what you need to make back any expenses for the project, an amount you want to earn, and the rest should be reinvested back into the project.
One project that I recently minted was priced at .23 for one NFT and put half of the ETH earned into a DAO that the community can vote to do things with. Bottom line here is when it comes to pricing, creativity is your friend.
When it comes to deciding what blockchain to build on, it’s a bit more clear. Ethereum is the current blockchain leader for NFTs, this is due to the quality of the projects launching on the network, the pricing of $ETH, and the overall security and stability of the Ethereum network. That being said, one of the biggest drawbacks currently with the Ethereum blockchain is the gas (transaction) fees that come along with every transaction on the network. Gas prices can vary depending on network utilization, they can range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars (usually they’re around $10-$50).
The Ethereum development team is working on major changes to the network including moving from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (better for the environment too) as well as introducing sharding. With sharding, validators on the Ethereum blockchain will only need to access the data being processed on shard chain and not the entire main chain (as is the case currently). This will supposedly cut the gas fees significantly. It will also commensurately reduce required computing power, thus providing relief to transaction validators. These changes are slated for 2023 likely at the earliest.
Of course there are other blockchains too, another up-and-coming chain is Solana which is growing, receiving more interest from developers, and has better projects launching on it. The first Solana project I took part in was the Shrimp Society and I’m a proud holder to this day!
Solana is a great choice for Play-2-Earn NFT games as the transaction fees on Solana are essentially zero. For more info on Solana I’d recommend reading Packy McCormick’s blog post.
Build a team
A successful NFT project is a team effort, this isn’t something you can or will want to do alone. If you’re not an artist, you’ll want to find one. A developer is also pretty much a must-have. I also brought on a sound engineer because my project is an audio visual experience. Be creative!
Identify people in your already existing network and community to find people to work with. It may take time to find the right people so don’t be discouraged. Reach out with the concept of your project and assess their interest, as the founder of an NFT project, you need to be able to sell the mission and idea to your team first, then everyone else.
If you’re looking to break into NFTs and don’t know anyone, join in the conversations happening on Clubhouse and Twitter. People are out there talking about what people are building in realtime.
Once you find an artist, the best thing to do is ideate your way through the art with them, come up with a core design and then determine what accessories and other elements you want to include. Have them mockup early sketches and build from there. Communicate what you’re looking for as clearly as possible with constructive feedback that moves you towards the ultimate vision.
The same applies to working with a developer or any other member of the team. Mockups are crucial, they help you map out ideas. It’s also important to build and iterate quickly. You’re not going to ever feel 💯 comfortable with anything you ship. If you do, you waited too long.
I also want to take a moment to encourage everyone building an NFT project to push the boundaries on what’s possible to help bring more innovation to the space.
Take copious notes
What I’m about to say should not be taken lightly. Write everything down so you can reference it later. This is incredibly important as you ideate your way through the project. Your project will naturally evolve over time and it’s good to track that. It’s also helpful when revisiting ideas you had while building but didn’t have the bandwidth to spend time on in the moment.
Plan ahead + have a roadmap
This should go without saying but plan ahead. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Whatever you think you need, give yourself another few weeks at least. This will mean less stress as the mint approaches as you bake in time for things to go wrong (and they will).
Prior to mint, you should have thought through your project’s marketing, voice, and community building strategies. For example, develop a strategy for Twitter (+Spaces), Clubhouse, Medium, etc. Know where and how you will be spending your time to raise your project’s awareness. Design a way to find and engage with people on those platforms where you’ll be hanging out (hot tip: consider using Twitter lists as a way to identify and organize people).
You will also want to have any giveaways pre-planned. Giveaways are a fantastic way to seed your NFT into the market to build awareness. My recommendation would be to create a document with people you want to give an NFT to and their wallet addresses. Personally, I don’t plan on airdropping to these people as I think it can get lost in people’s wallets + other reasons including security and cost, so what you can do is have your developer create a way to send a direct link to mint where they only have to pay gas.
Another important thing to have is a launch plan (e.g. day, time, promotion, events, social engagement, content to onboard n00bs, etc).
Be transparent
It’s so vital that you’re able to communicate your plans and ideas clearly with your community via Clubhouse, Twitter, Discord, your website, etc and ask for feedback as you build. If you make a mistake, own it and grow from it. I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t say this: voice is core to web3, you’re going to want to take advantage of it so plan content specifically for Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces.
Part of being transparent includes doxxing yourself. It’s better to be a doxxed project (meaning people know your real identity) as it adds another layer of trust and transparency to your project that no non-doxxed project can ever come close to matching. I even link directly to my LinkedIn profile on the crypto cackles website. 🤓
Like what we’re building at crypto cackles? Check out this tweet (likes/RTs encouraged) where we share our first-look at the laughing hyena art.
If you’re interested in NFTs I’d invite you to join the crypto cackles Discord, feel free to mention @cackles to ping me with your comments/questions. Also be sure to check out our how to mint guide!