The NFT craze is going stronger than ever. That is, more and more people realize just how truly revolutionary this technology is. Beyond the outrageous transaction values and superficial deals, we are now being presented with probably one of the most robust ways that you can officially own a virtual asset with relative permanence.
But, that doesn’t mean that the profit potential for NFTs is going to end anytime soon. If you want to know how to make money with NFTs, then this short “pathway” guide will be your first step towards that nerve-wracking, yet wonderful digital frontier.
How to Make Money with NFTs Overview
- Treat them as Standard Tradables, but Virtual
- Earn the NFTs
- Create NFTs as a Career
- Invest within the Industry Itself
1. Treat them as Standard Tradables, but Virtual
The most straightforward way you can earn money via NFTs is simply by investing in a good amount of Ethereum, researching purchase trends, and then buying existing NFTs to sell them for a good profit later on.
Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite. First, you need to have a really good critical eye as a collector. You need to correctly discern items in the marketplace that can fetch a good value with certain dealers, then use time and rarity to your advantage to jack the prices up as high as people are willing to pay. At first, you should aim for lower profit yields. Then, if possible, specialize in just one or two specific areas, so that your research for NFT trends can be reduced to a minimum.
But as you get better and better (or after a few stumbles), you can try aiming high like Pablorfraile. This was the person who was able to resell a single portion of a $2.2 million-worth NFT collection for $6.6 million (leaving the other items still potentially profitable at similar prices), earning several times the original auction price.
2. Earn the NFT (via Gaming, spending on Collectible Packs, etc.)
Much like virtual assets turning into NFTs, games built on the blockchain network are also becoming the norm. Because of this, such titles are already using NFTs by default, and any transaction involving the cryptocurrency of that network will automatically be confirmed as an ownership transfer to whoever successfully purchases that particular virtual item.
So how to make money with NFTs for this particular entry? Play the games. Play them until (hopefully) you can get a rare item that could fetch a good price as an NFT. Of course, this also includes anything that could be obtained by the player with similar properties as in-game items. For example, The Genesis Estate from Axie Infinity was a custom player area (virtual land), rather than a direct item, that was successfully sold in Ethereum with an equivalent value of $1.5 million. The same applies to collectible NFT packs (either in-game or purchasable), where you can potentially invest a small amount for the chance to get something you could later sell at a great profit.
Oh yes, and you can also apply our first method when you have already successfully earned the NFT that you intend to sell.
3. Create the NFT Yourself
This is what the vast majority of sensational NFT news falls under. Indeed, you can create almost any kind of virtual asset and introduce them as NFTs… technically. You still need to fulfill a few rather huge social and time-related hurdles before these NFTs start generating money in the way you might want.
Some of these include:
- Fixing your market place account to promote and present NFTs that you make systematically (easy enough, but may require time to optimize depending on what you intend to sell).
- Earning the skills, or at least marketing smarts, needed to create NFTs that could potentially hold value (artiwork, music, collectibles, etc.).
- Building an online reputation for the profession related to the NFTs you are selling.
- Creating a community around your NFTs that will confirm they indeed have value in the first place.
- Eliminating the expectation that NFTs always sell big. For starters, NFTs may sell no more than average trinkets sold in stores.
With the right mindset, setup, and trends to follow, NFTs created from scratch may still fetch a good amount of sustainable value, even if they don’t sell for millions like the ones you see in the news. For example, Benyamin Ahmed, a 12-year old, has built a virtual business designing and selling Weird Whales, his second NFT collection, which is currently his most successful so far.
4. Invest within the Industry Itself
If directly buying and selling NFTs isn’t exactly your thing, or you have more than enough funds to go past such option, you may instead directly invest within the NFT industry. This already goes beyond the traditional methods for how to make money with NFTs. But, it is practically still within the industry/category, so we have decided to include it here.
One method to achieve this is to stake your personally owned NFTs. The first objective is to keep receiving “upkeep” rewards from them being hosted or stored on a particular site. The specific mechanics of staking NFTs (including the determined fee-based rewards) will depend on the platform being used, so be sure to get whatever details necessary to understand how your chosen system would work.
Of course, you can also invest in NFT startups. While the trend of selling for outrageously high prices might soon settle on a balanced curve, NFTs as virtual tradable items themselves are here to stay. As such, if there is a conceptual NFT company with an innovation that seems very promising, you can help lift it up towards its potentially revolutionary future.
Can You Go Wrong at This Point?
Despite having already been around for a while, NFTs are still very much a burgeoning industry. There’s still a lot of room to move around, implement new ideas, and develop new breakthroughs. Even if you don’t know how to make money with NFTs as efficiently as possible just yet, you’ll most likely just learn and adapt along with everyone else who has fully embraced the technology early on.
So go ahead, try out a combination of any methods mentioned above. Invest not just your money but your time to observe and learn about the blockchain itself. Even if you can’t make it out as the next NFT billionaire, you have at least gained enough experience to be within the industry and thrive as its regular folk.
