*Updated May 17th, 2024
By now, you’ve heard of NFTs, read about NFTs, and probably seen NFTs.
And if you’re like most people, it’s probably left you saying to yourself one of two things: “isn’t this thing over yet?” or “is it too late to get on board?”
If you relate to the latter, then this blog is for you. Because though NFTs saw a bit of a decline in 2022, many predict that 2024 will be the year that the NFT will make its glorious comeback.
So, if you missed the action the first time around, then now’s your chance to join the hype!
Luckily for you, minting your first NFT isn’t as hard as it’s made to seem. The best part is that you don’t even need any fancy tools or advanced artistry skills. And with creatives seeming to benefit the most from NFTs, it’s not a bad idea to give it a shot.
Just follow these 5 simple steps, and you too can become an owner of your very first digital piece of work in a matter of minutes!
A Beginners' Guide to Minting NFTs
1. Develop Your Concept
If there’s a “difficult” part to minting an NFT, it would be concept creation.
Because NFTs can be anything — we mean anything — it’s hard to know where exactly to start. This first step is a great time to explore your purpose or motivation behind creating the digital piece in the first place.
Maybe you have a project or business you’re trying to fund? Or maybe you simply just want to get into the NFT game while it’s still popular? Regardless of what your motive is, it’s important that whatever you create lines up with the purpose you’re pulling together.
Here are some examples of very popular NFT collections:
- Launched by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks is one of the most famous NFT collections out there, dating all the way back to 2017.
- Bored Ape Yacht Club, launched by Yuga Labs LLC, is one of the most popular NFT collections, featuring pictures of cartoon apes generated by an AI algorithm.
- Gary Vaynerchuk’s Vee Friends is a great example of an NFT project with a personalized fun twist.
- Crypto influencer, Tai Lopez, launched his own NFT project after his content.
2. Choose a Platform
Like eCommerce, there are many platforms available for you to mint and sell NFTs.
To better help you decide which platform is best for you, here are three beginner-friendly marketplaces where first-time creators can start.
OpenSea
If you’re reading this, then you’ve more than likely already heard of OpenSea.
The popular platform is known for its easy-to-use interface, home to all types of NFTs. While the Ethereum blockchain has a reputation for charging high service fees, or what’s regularly called “gas” fees, OpenSea now offers the option to skip it initially. This means that creators can upload and mint their artwork, and only pay gas fees upon their first sale.
Blockchain(s): Ethereum, Polygon, Klayton, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Zora Network, and Base.
Wallet Needed to Start: Any of the wallets listed below:
Creator Fees: 2.5% on secondary sales and between 2.5% and 10% on mints from primary drops.
Minting Process:
- Set up your wallet of choice
- Connect your wallet to OpenSea
- Create a collection and choose the blockchain you wish to use.
- Once your collection is created and the necessary details are filled out, click “Add New Item” and upload your file.
- Add any optional details (external links, properties, levels, stats)
- Pay the gas fee and list your NFT for sale!
Magic Eden
One of the most prominent NFT marketplaces around, Magic Eden caters to both NFT creators and collectors with features like cross-chain support, which allows users to trade NFTs across multiple blockchains, and Launchpad, a feature that simplifies the minting process for its artists.
Initially available only on the Solana blockchain, Magic Eden has since branched out to include Ethererum, Polygon, and Bitcoin, expanding its reach.
Blockchain(s): Solana, Ethereum, Polygon, Bitcoin
Wallet Needed to Start: Any wallet compatible with Solana, including:
- Phantom
- Slope
- Sollet
- Solflare
- Clover
- Ledger
- Solong
- MathWallet
Creator Fees: 2% from sales and there is a free minting option available.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Solana wallet
- Connect your wallet to Magic Eden
- Using Magic Eden’s Launchpad or Creator Hub, click “Create New Collection” and fill in your details.
- Select the blockchain you want to use (usually Solana)
- Click “Add New Item” and upload your digital file to mint your NFT
- Pay the minting fee and list your NFT for sale.
LooksRare
If you’re all about being a part of a community, LooksRare could be the place for you.
Launched in January of 2022, its aim has always been to be a community-first platform for NFT collectors, buyers, and traders.
It rewards its users for engagement with its native token, LOOKs, for all buying, selling, and listing activities. You can also earn LOOK tokens just for listing NFTs from top collections. This community focus, along with relatively low transaction fees make it a popular choice among NFT enthusiasts!
Blockchain(s): Ethereum
Wallet Needed to Start: Any ETH-compatible wallet will work.
Creator Fees: 2% on NFT sales, excluding private ones.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Ethereum wallet
- Connect your wallet to LooksRare via their website.
- Click the profile icon, “My Collections” and then “Create Collection.” This will take you to the Manifold platform.
- Follow the instructions on Manifold to upload and mint your NFT.
- Add optional details.
- Pay the gas fee and list your NFT for sale.
Binance
Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges out there, with its own NFT marketplace.
It offers all of the typical digital assets that can be found on NFT marketplaces, such as artwork, collectibles, and gaming items. The biggest differentiator here is that it runs on its own blockchain, giving it more control over its infrastructure and enabling lower fees for you.
An ideal choice for newbies on the market!
Blockchain(s): Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum
Wallet Needed to Start: Binance Wallet or Spot Wallet
Creator Fees: 1% royalty fee for each secondary sale.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Binance wallet
- From the Binance NFT Marketplace homepage, click “Create.” This will take you to the minting page. Click “+Collection” to get started.
- Once your collection is created, click “Create” to upload and mint your NFT.
- Follow the instructions on Manifold to upload and mint your NFT.
- Add any optional details.
- Pay the minting fee and list your NFT for sale.
Holaplex
Holaplex has proven itself to be a more sustainable, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional NFT marketplaces, thanks to being built on the Solana blockchain.
Known for its high speed and efficiency, Solana cuts down on the energy usage required to mint NFTs, making it much cheaper and more efficient than the popular Ethereum blockchain.
This makes Holaplex a great choice for NFT enthusiasts looking for a greener and more cost-effective platform.
Blockchain(s): Solana
Wallet Needed to Start: Phantom Wallet, Sollet, Solflare, and Slope.
Creator Fees: Reportedly 0.000005 SOL ($0.00025) but can fluctuate depending on Solana’s network fees. Typical fractions of a cent.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Solana wallet
- Connect your wallet to Holaplex
- Click “Create” on your Holaplex homepage and fill in all of the necessary details for your new collection.
- Upload your file to mint your NFT.
- Set your royalties and royalty split.
- Pay the minting fee and list your NFT for sale.
Rarible
Another platform with all sorts of creations, Rarible is a vibrant NFT marketing that is big on community ownership and decentralized governance.
All it takes is to use their unique token (ERC-20 RARI) to become an owner of the Rarible project. Besides the ability to democratize platform ownership, Rarible also offers creators more fun features to launch NFTs, like showing a sneak peek of their creations to Rarible visitors and limiting the full projects to purchasers only.
Blockchain(s): Ethereum, RARI Chain, Polygon, Immutable-X, xqSync Era, Base, Astar zkEVM, and Kroma.
Wallet Needed to Start: Any wallet compatible with your choice of blockchain.
Creator Fees: 1.5% from sales and there is a free minting option available.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Ethereum wallet
- Visit the Rarible website and click “Connect Wallet.”
- Create a Collection by clicking “Create,” “NFT,” and then “Create Collection.”
- Fill in the necessary details and choose the blockchain you wish to use.
- Upload and mint your NFT.
- Add any optional details to boost sales.
- Pay the minting fee and list your NFT for sale.
SuperRare
If you’re into exclusive digital art, SuperRare may be the marketplace for you.
This platform supports artists by giving them a place to showcase, collect, and trade unique, single-edition pieces of digital art.
If you want to sell your art on SuperRare, however, be prepared to go through a bit of a process, since SuperRare vets every artist and only accepts a limited number of creators. This is to reduce the risk of there being fraudulent work in their marketplace and to ensure quality, so it’s worth the wait.
Blockchain(s): Ethereum
Wallet Needed to Start: Any ETH-compatible wallet will work.
Creator Fees: A bit on the expensive side, SuperRare takes 15% on primary sales.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Ethereum wallet
- Apply to SuperRare to be approved as a contributing artist.
- Once approved, go to the SuperRare website and connect your wallet.
- You can choose to mint under the standard SuperRare contract or create a custom Series Contract.
- Click “Mint NFT” to upload and mint your file.
- Add any optional details that make your NFT even more unique.
- Pay the gas fee and list your NFT for sale.
Blur
Once you become an advanced NFT trader, Blur might be the marketplace for you.
Launched in October of 2022, Blur is one of the newer marketplaces out there, offering fun features like fast NFT sweeping, real-time price feeds, and tools to manage your online portfolio.
It’s also capable of high-speed transactions and has zero trading fees, making it a particularly attractive choice to NFT pros.
Blockchain(s): Ethereum
Wallet Needed to Start: Blur is compatible with any of the following wallets:
- Trust
- MetaMask
- Ledger
- imToken
- Torus
- Coinbase
- TokenPocket
- iToken Wallet
Creator Fees: Blur only requires a minimum of 0.5% royalty fees and zero trading fees, making it one of the more cost-effective marketplaces.
Minting Process:
- Set up your Ethereum wallet
- Connect your wallet on the Blur website.
- Click “Create,” which will take you to Manifold’s platform.
- Follow the instructions on Manifold to upload and mint your NFT
- Add any optional details to make your NFT more desirable.
- Pay the gas fee and list your NFT for sale.
3. Build a Community
Hear us out:
While most think waiting until after you create your project is a smart play, we recommend starting some buzz well before you launch your NFT project.
There are many ways to do that. Here are some of our favorites:
- Using social media, particularly platforms like (X) Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
- Messaging apps like Discord and Telegram. These platforms are full of gamers and crypto enthusiasts, making them useful for NFT promotion.
- Using the social audio app, Clubhouse. This provides a platform for live audio conversations about your favorite NFTs, which can give you a unique way to engage with NFT enthusiasts, promote your NFT, and find some potential collaboration opportunities.
So, why focus on building a digital marketing plan before you mint your first NFT?
Because by becoming active on channels that are saturated with NFT enthusiasts and raising awareness around your projects early on, you can better the chances of giving your NFTs a head start.
Community is key, after all!
4. Create Your Project
Because everyone’s goals with NFTs are vastly different, creating NFTs will also look differently. If your goal is to launch as many projects as possible, you may want to explore resources like NFT Art Generator, a program designed to generate a mass group of NFTs.
Alternatively, if your goal is to launch one or two meaningful pieces of work, you’ll need to get to the drawing table and create them yourself for the best result. Or, if you aren’t confident in your artistic abilities, you can always outsource your project and provide a graphic designer with your vision.
Whatever your NFT production goals are, here are some tips for inspiration:
- Use artwork or projects you’ve already created
- Partner with other creators and create with them
- Base your projects on your audience’s interests
Whichever option you choose, always keep your preferred platform in mind. This is especially important because you’ll need to consider the platform’s acceptable file types and file size. For example, OpenSea’s file limit is 100 MB, which can be restrictive for over-capacity ideas.
5. Mint, List & Share
You may have heard about “minting” an NFT before, but in case you haven’t, let’s break it down now:
Minting an NFT is the process of turning your digital artwork (whatever it may be) into a part of the blockchain — a technology that establishes proof of ownership and notes the uniqueness of your digital art.
It does this by tokenizing your digital file, which means turning it into a token (a digital asset recognized in the digital economy) that can then be traded or sold on whatever platform or marketplace you wish. And once your digital file has been tokenized, it will exist on the blockchain forever.
ThIs permanence and security is one of the biggest benefits of blockchain technology: the entire history of your file, from the moment of its creation, will exist on the blockchain and can be authenticated by anyone at any point. This means that every transaction, from your initial minting to every sale or transfer your NFT goes through, is recorded on the blockchain, providing a transparent record of ownership for anyone to access.
Here’s how you do it:
Once you’ve created an account on the platform of your choice and created your NFT work of art, uploading your project is fairly simple. Just follow the instructions listed above for your choice of NFT marketplace.
Once your NFT is minted, you’ll likely see it on your profile immediately upon upload. While this means it is minted, you’ll still need to list it for sale by giving it a price — which is entirely up to you. Don’t forget to leverage all of the pre-planning work you’ve done before for this step!
At this point, you’ll want to launch your projects on social media — tweet it, share it, discuss it, promote it, whatever you like! The more you put your projects in front of interested and affluent audiences, the more likely your first NFT project will reach the stars.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6369722e59155470b6840033_Potential-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Want to save money without sacrificing the quality?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Say goodbye to traditional, expensive agencies and unreliable marketplaces. Say hello to Designity.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/pricing" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Get Your 2-Week Trial</strong></a></div></div></div>
Need Some Backup?
Fortunately, since their initial popularity boom in 2021, it has become much easier and affordable to create your own NFT.
But as simple as their creation is, the real trick to getting eyes on your NFT and seeing the success you want is to make some noise!
And if you need some help doing that, then we have a solution for you.
Designity is a future-ready, tech-enabled platform that works regularly on the blockchain and has all of the NFT designers, artists, and promoters you need to see your project from conception to completion.
Whether you need help coming up with creative artwork ideas, expanding and refining the ideas you have, or promoting your projects in the most effective way, Designity can help you get it done.
Have a peek at our NFT design and marketing services page and see how we can help you get your NFT minted, listed in the marketplace of your choice, and making waves on social media. And whenever you’re ready, book your demo call so we can get you started on your two-week, no-obligation trial.
Are you ready to create your first NFT?
