How to Create an NFT Project for your Business

Web 3.0 is revolutionizing the way businesses operate by providing a more personalized web, greater data searchability and the elimination of third-party intermediaries. This means Web 3.0 will help businesses save time and resources while developing stronger relationships with customers. 

This is the perfect primer for businesses who want to stay ahead of their competitors and NFTs are leading the way in brand development in the Web 3.0 space.

There's a lot of buzz around NFTs right now as these virtual assets are creating opportunities for brands who are looking to engage their audiences on a new, virtual medium.

However, NFTs aren’t just a passing digital trend, and the buzz exists for good reason.

The top NFT statistics for 2022 to help you better understand the power and growth of the Non-Fungible Token.

• £30 billion spent on NFTs already this year as investment is set to surpass the 2021 total.
• 950,000 wallets were acquired and sold As NFTs in Q1 of 2022.
• The NFT market was worth $41 billion in 2021.
• “The Merge” is the most expensive NFT ever sold – it went for $91.8 million.
• There are $10-$20 million worth of NFT sold in the blockchain every week.
• 250,000 people trade NFTs every month on OpenSea.

How to Apply NFTs to Your Business

As the stats suggest, there is an enormous opportunity for businesses in the NFT space, but how can NFTs apply to your business?

• Real-world assets as NFTs: The ways that NFTs can be constructed allow for different use cases and therefore, they present an ideal way to represent real-world assets such as art or even real estate. In fact, there have already been real estate transactions that were completed using the sale of NFTs. Despite being in the early days of this technology, these types of transactions have already tackled traditional processes, threatening the status quo by ultimately removing middlemen from the equation and therefore saving both time and money from the process. 
• NFTs as a community enabler: NFTs are quickly becoming a validation token (or ticket) for access to communities of like-minded individuals who all have one thing in common - ownership of a specific type or part of a collection of NFTs. Using platforms such as Discord, NFT holders can access a collection’s dedicated channel and communicate with other ‘members’ after validating their NFT ownership. Connectivity and interoperability between platforms are key to this with digital wallets being used to validate ownership using 3rd party applications that have been built to work with platforms such as Discord. Most communities have an open area where those who want to be a part of the community can participate and engage with other communities; however, those with validated NFT ownership can access member-only channels where privileged content, insights and opinions can be accessed. 
• NFT Brand Activations: Once an NFT collection has been created, marketing opportunities await. Through social platforms such as Discord and the Metaverse, users are able to learn more about your NFT collection and your brand in a virtual environment. Brands have noticed the benefit of this space and more and more well-known brands have started shifting their marketing efforts into virtual brand activations and virtual pop-ups that feel like live experiences - but are more exclusive. 
• Secondary Market: While the “primary market” refers to the first sale of an NFT artwork, the “secondary market” encompasses all subsequent resales of the work. With NFTs, an artist’s/brand’s right to secondary-sale royalties is automatically guaranteed thanks to a few simple lines of code, with no extra legal work required. This enables artists to instantly get a cut of any and all future sales of their work, in perpetuity

NFTs also have the power to:

• Drive brand loyalty with limited edition merchandise 
• Raise funds for social causes
• Improve supply chain management

Learning how to use NFTs for your business can help improve brand recognition and loyalty, create unique experiences for customers, prevent piracy, and improve supply chain tracking. With the enormous commercial involved, every smart company would do well to incorporate NFTs in their business model. 

But, where do you begin when it comes to crafting your NFT project?

Creating an NFT Project for Your Business

As leaders in digital growth and the Web 3 space, Nexa has put together an NFT strategy that will take your project from start to finish. This strategy consists of 5 phases:

1. Ideation
2. Experience
3. Design
4. Activation
5. Execution

Below we take a look at what each stage encompasses and then we take a look at a case study that outlines these processes.

1. Ideation: This is the conceptual stage of any NFT project and consists of brainstorming ways to develop a rewarding and effective NFT project for your business through brand immersion. In this time you need to fully identify your brand's niche and pinpoint where your brand fits within the NFT space, from gaming and media to data tools and marketplace and more.  
2. Experience:  Now it's time to unpack ideation even further and take a look at the perks, value and utility of your NFT project and what the project will bring to your business. This is when you will put together a roadmap for NFT success and when you will identify what community you will be a part of as you enter the NFT space.
3. Design: At this stage, it is time to generate your brand's art. Work with talented designers or partner with local artists in your community to create eye-catching collaborations.  Once designs are completed, you need to put together a minting strategy. It is important that every artwork in an NFT collection is professionally minted so that your community is able to obtain your NFTs seamlessly and securely.
4. Activation: Work with an agency or your marketing team and put together a marketing strategy that aligns with your NFT project. At this stage, you need to create your NFT collection in OpenSea and set up your Discord channel and related social media. A digital growth and Web 3 agency will set up a number of marketing services to raise awareness for your NFT project using creative messaging and paid and organic mediums to reach target audiences effectively.  The agency you partner with should also help to educate your audience so that they understand your mission, the project utility and how they can get involved while assisting in the setting up and managing of vital channels using platforms such as Telegram and Discord. Through these channels, NFT holders can access a collection’s dedicated channel and communicate with other ‘members’ after validating their NFT ownership. 
5. Execution: A strong digital agency or your internal marketing team should then refine the process and continue marketing your brand through digital campaigns to ensure your project reaches your target audience. But your project shouldn't just end there. While the “primary market” refers to the first sale of an NFT artwork, the “secondary market” encompasses all subsequent resales of the work. With NFTs, an artist’s/ brand’s right to secondary-sale royalties is automatically guaranteed thanks to a few simple lines of code, with no extra legal work required. This enables brands to instantly get a cut of any and all future sales of their work, in perpetuity - and it is vital you work with experts who can help you identify secondary market opportunities and revenue opportunities within the NFT space.

Now that we have an understanding of the process of NFT project development and implementation, let's take a look at the rise of the Spottie WiFi NFT.

Case Study: Spottie WiFi 

Spottie WiFi,  the world's first cryptopunk rapper, made almost $200,000 in just 60 seconds. But, what is a Cryptopunk rapper? If you follow the NFT and crypto industry at all, you’re probably familiar with the famous NFT collection: Cryptopunks. To put it simply: Spottie Wifi is a Cryptopunk NFT that launched a rap album.

1. Ideation: It all started with a rapper based in Miami, Miguel. Years after giving up on his music career, Miguel discovered the world of NFTs. He eventually started seeing the rise of the NFT project Cryptopunks and invested in one of his own. People were quickly using these little NFT images of Cryptopunks as their profile pictures all over the internet – it almost became their personal brand. And they were selling for millions. This gave Miguel an idea. If any digital file could become an NFT, why couldn’t he turn his music into NFTs? So that’s what he did.
2. Experience: He named him “Spottie Wifi”, to pay homage to his unique and characterizing feature of a spotted face. And then, over the course of the next 6 months, Miguel worked with his music producer to flesh out the character of Spottie Wifi. 
3. Design: They designed his entire body, created his personality and built an entire brand around this NFT. 
4. Activation: They finally dropped Spottie Wifi’s very first rap album. They made 2000 copies of the record and sold it as an exclusive NFT collection.
5. Execution: They sold each one to a group of just 700 people – in 1 minute. He made nearly $200,000 in 60 seconds! The secondary market is also powerful as it allows Miguel to make royalties on the secondary sales of his music.

As seen above, NFTs are not just a passing fad and are the future of branding, entertainment and art. It is important you get ahead of your competitors and explore this valuable space. 

How We Can Help

Nexa understands and appreciates the magnitude of this evolution and Web 3.0 offers businesses the opportunity to thrive in the new digital space. We are at the forefront of Web 3.0 commercial opportunities and provide a variety of services for leading brands as they make the transition into the Web 3.0 revolution. The Nexa team has fully immersed itself into the Web 3.0 arena and continues to pave the way for digital transformation in this space.

In the digital world, first-mover advantage is a very real concept and those who embrace this will stand to benefit faster than others - and Nexa is here to give its clients the opportunity to get ahead of their competitors in this new and exciting space. 

Contact us for all your NFT needs.