Can NFTs help artists maximise their earnings?
Traditional art-selling methods may not always be the most profitable or sustainable for artists, especially in the digital age where artwork can easily be reproduced and shared online. This is where NFTs (non-fungible tokens) come in.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have been a hot topic in the digital world lately and for good reason. NFTs are unique digital assets that can represent anything from art to music to tweets. They use blockchain technology to verify their authenticity and ownership, making them extremely valuable.
For artists, NFTs offer a new way to monetise their work.
How to maximise your NFT earnings?
1. Create Unique and High-Quality Artwork
The first step to earning more money with NFTs is to create unique and high-quality artwork that is in demand by collectors. NFTs are all about exclusivity and rarity, so the more unique and high-quality your artwork is, the more valuable it will be to collectors.
2. Build Your Brand and Reputation
Building your brand and reputation as an artist is key to maximising your earnings with NFTs. This means establishing a consistent style, creating a strong online presence, and networking with other artists and collectors in the NFT community.
NFTs offer a way for artists to reach a larger audience. By selling their work as an NFT, artists can reach fans and collectors from all over the world, not just those who are able to attend physical art shows which is why building your audience online is so important.
3. Choose the Right NFT Platform
There are many NFT platforms out there, so it's important to choose the right one for your artwork. Some of the most popular platforms include OpenSea, SuperRare, and Nifty Gateway, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
4. Promote Your Artwork
Promoting your artwork is crucial to maximising your earnings with NFTs. This means using social media, email marketing, and other forms of digital marketing to get the word out about your NFTs and generate interest from potential buyers.
5. Create Limited Editions
Creating limited editions of your NFTs is a great way to increase their value and generate more income. This means only creating a certain number of NFTs for a particular artwork and setting a higher price point for each one.
6. Offer Perks and Rewards
Offering perks and rewards to NFT buyers is another way to maximise your earnings. This could include things like exclusive access to future artwork, behind-the-scenes content, or even physical merchandise related to your artwork.
7. Use Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are a powerful tool for artists using NFTs. They allow you to set rules and conditions for the use and distribution of your artwork, ensuring that you retain control over its use and protecting your intellectual property.
Artists can more easily protect their work from piracy and copyright infringement because NFTs are verified on the blockchain, it's much harder for others to claim ownership of an artist's work and profit from it illegally.
8. Collaborate with Other Artists
Collaborating with other artists on NFT projects is a great way to reach new audiences and generate more income. This could involve working with other artists on a joint project, or even selling NFTs of collaborative artwork.
9. Participate in NFT Auctions
Participating in NFT auctions is another way to maximise your earnings. These auctions can be highly competitive, but if you have a unique and desirable piece of artwork, you could fetch a high price.
10. Keep Up with the Latest Trends
Finally, it's important to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the NFT world. This means staying informed about new platforms, trends, and technologies, and adapting your strategy accordingly to maximise your earnings over time.
How much money can you make from NFTs?
In terms of market value, NFTs have exploded in popularity in recent years. According to a report by NonFungible.com, the total value of NFT sales in 2020 was $250 million.
With traditional art sales, artists only earn money when their work is sold. However, with NFTs, artists can earn a percentage of every subsequent sale of their work. This means that as the value of their work increases, so does their earnings.
Another way artists could sell their work is by selling a limited edition NFT of their artwork for a high price, and then receiving a percentage of any subsequent sales of that NFT in the future.
Famous examples of high-value NFT sales
A notable example is Trevor Jones, a British painter, and digital artist who In October 2020, sold a collection of Batman art (by Trevor Jones and José Delbo) for a combined 540.86 ETH, or about $200,000. The art was auctioned on NFT marketplace MakersPlace.[3][4]
On Feb. 25 an open edition NFT artwork by Trevor Jones titled “The Bitcoin Angel” sold 4,157 editions within 7 minutes at a price of $777 each, for a total of almost $3.29 million.[5]
Another artist who has successfully used NFTs is Beeple. He sold an NFT artwork for $69 million, becoming one of the most expensive artworks ever sold. Grimes, a musician, sold several NFTs for over $6 million, and Steve Aoki also sold his first NFT for over $4 million.
These artists demonstrate the potential for NFTs to drastically increase earnings for artists. By creating scarcity and exclusivity for digital artwork, NFTs allow artists to monetise their work in a new and innovative way. As the market for NFTs continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how artists continue to utilise this technology to maximise their earnings.