Last April, I wrote about my experience entering the fast-growing world of NFTs (and my obvious lack of knowledge). Now, a year later, not much has changed in that last regard—I still have an incredible lack of knowledge in the space—because everything about NFTs has changed.

When I started down this road, I was super excited and optimistic. I had aspirations of creating a market for my own art. After minting my first few NFTs, I decided to go bigger. I started drawing my first collection “States of Confusion? Portraits of America,” a collection of 50 hand-drawn, digitally painted portraits that I plan to add to Rarible when I finally know what I’m doing. So, never. Just kidding—hopefully it will be soon.

I still have an incredible lack of knowledge in the space—because everything about NFTs has changed.

Each portrait includes a brief story explaining why the image is for that state, without naming the state—a fun little quiz for the viewer. In addition to the 50 states, I’ll create two portraits of states that are not actual states to give away. I’ve also created a cover image of a sort of catalog to go with it. If you look closely, you might be able to figure out which states are represented.

Over several months, I finished my collection as I continued to consume NFT influencer content. My favorite by far is Cade Bergman, who has a show/podcast called Joyage Kingdom. Not only is he entertaining, he is very informative and the number of top NFT creators he gets on his show is amazing.

Now, a year later I’ve definitely learned a lot (including that there’s a lot more to learn).

The most important thing I picked up is that this space is growing faster than the internet did in the early aughts. This creates an ever-growing hurdle as I focus on preparing work for market. I thought I was simply adding art to a marketplace and telling people about it. Instead, the need to create a brand (and everything that goes with it), market, build a community and cultivate a following is daunting, especially as new tactics seem to be added every week. Right now, just getting in the game requires a website, plus attending to a Discord channel and Twitter and Instagram feeds.

In addition, there’s a growing expectation to provide something of utility to NFT holders. That can be a free NFT, something physical to complement the art, or perks like invitations to real-world gallery shows.

If you know me, you know I can develop a website. It’s what I do for a living at FATFREE. But managing all the channels, engaging with anyone who stops by, reaching out on other people’s platforms, and managing utility NFTs as my following and sales grow could be its own full-time job.

I’ve been having a ball creating my own collection—I just hope managing the marketing of my NFTs allows me time to keep doing it.

*****

FATFREE stays at the forefront of trends and technology, so you can take advantage of what’s coming next. If you’d like to explore new ideas, please reach out today.