A Complete Newbie Learns How To Promote An NFT Collection
Jazz dives into the topic that’s never more important than in a bear market – figuring out how to find an audience as an NFT creator.
AUGUST 10, 2022. BEGINNER’S GUIDE. WRITTEN BY JAZZ MEYER.
“Hi! We can promote your project how much u want by sending DM’s!” was the message I woke up to one sunny spring morning.
I’d just held my first NFT drop the evening before, and already the promotion sharks were circling. Of course, I was no stranger to unsolicited DMs – I’d received plenty of spam and scam messages before, but this was the first time I was being preyed upon as a creator. I didn’t like it.
It did get me thinking however, and as I went about blocking the sender, the cogs in my mind began to turn.
As someone who’s dabbled multiple times (read: too many times) in running a small business, I know that one of the hardest parts of the process is gaining visibility, and the NFT space is no different. It’s all well and good to create a collection and send my fancy new NFTs out into the world, but if the world doesn’t know about them, what’s the point?
Despite my decided lack of marketing skills, my drop the night before had gone well. I was lucky enough to have gathered a small community interested in my work, and about half of my NFTs had sold immediately.
The other half however were still sitting in my wallet waiting to be adopted, and as the hours wore on, they remained there.
A week later, I was still the majority shareholder of my own NFTs, and apart from getting me on my own collection’s whitelist, this did me no good. I was starting to think the promotion shark might have had a point.
The only question was, how could I promote my NFT project without resorting to sending badly-written DMs to unsuspecting strangers?
Breaking The Blockchain Wall
The answer came, as it often does, from the community itself.
If you’ve read any of my other articles you’ll have heard me harp on and on about how welcoming this space has been since I entered as a complete newbie back in January. Not that my status has changed all that much, now I’m just a complete newbie with a collection. Luckily for me, the support hasn’t changed either.
I don’t want to brag, but I’m very fortunate to have a Discord server populated with what some might consider the celebs of the WAX space (okay, to me they’re celebs and I do want to brag).
One such celebrity is Josh Loveridge, the creator of Costume Clash – the P2E racing and platform game that got me over my fear of controllers during my foray into blockchain gaming. One night, as I was mulling over this promotion conundrum, the familiar ping of a Discord message jolted me out of my reverie.
It was another promotion offer, but this time I didn’t go for the ‘Report Spam’ button. My eyes widened cartoonishly as I read the message – an invitation for my collection to be featured in Costume Clash itself.
If, like me, you’ve been taken in by the colourful maps and cute characters of Costume Clash, you’ll have noticed the abundance of project cameos throughout the game.
Giant Grubfish from CritterCraft roam freely in the Friendly Farms map while Slinky – a terrifying sea monster created by Floyd Jenkins – causes racers to swerve wildly around a labyrinthine pirate ship. NFT Insider’s very own Timmy hosts a challenge in the platform aspect of the game, while Rusty from Red Panda Adventures shouts encouragement whenever players cross his path.
I’d never dreamed that my project would be featured amongst such well-known names, but, as Josh often says, a rising tide lifts all ships, and he takes it upon himself to influence the swell.
My project, he explained, would fit perfectly in the Castle Costume map, with the logo of my redeemable jewellery collection adorning a roadside stall touting glowing crystals and magical rings. I could barely contain my excitement and accepted the invitation with about as much grace as a three-year old at Christmas.
Soon enough I jumped into the game and beheld my very own collection cameo. Even better, the jewellery stall was positioned right next to my favourite blockchain bee, Waxy, decked out in wizard garb. It was a dream I didn’t even know I’d had until that moment, and it had somehow come true.
It would only be a slight exaggeration to say I became addicted to the rush that this game placement offered. My NFTs were breaking the walls of their marketplace listings and exploring regions hitherto unknown.
With that first experience in cross-platform promotion fresh in my mind, I kept an eye out for other opportunities – and it wasn’t long before the next one presented itself. I’d already been dabbling in Immersys – the MMO/metaverse experience that took WAX by storm – and one night, another Discord ping caught my attention.
A special offer from Immersys to new creators meant I could add my collection to their metaverse without a sign-up fee. My NFTs would be spawnable, place-able and even wearable in their virtual world. I could feel the rush coming on already!
They were also offering a collaboration on wearable pins, with revenue shared between Immersys and little ol’ me. My newly-developed business mogul brain kicked into gear and with the help of their team, I submitted the promo NFT I’d created for my early community members.
A few days later I watched, awestruck as it appeared in all its glory in the metaverse. I may have spent an inordinate amount of time spawning the NFT in mid-air wherever I went.
It wasn’t long before friends and supporters started doing the same, adorning their digital walls with my NFT, and I felt, as I have many times on this journey, an immense swell of incredulity and gratitude.
Something I created now exists as part of a much greater project – dare I say a movement! As the metaverse heads towards mainstream adoption, my humble NFT will be forever immortalised in the early stages of this technology. It’s just incredibly cool to walk into a virtual tavern and see my logo plastered on the walls.
The excitement wasn’t over yet, though. The creator pin was yet to drop, and when the auspicious date came around, I watched as the wearables sold in a flurry of excitement. The next time I jumped into the metaverse, I immediately adorned my avatar with my shiny new pin and proceeded to flash it at everyone I came across.
Adding A Face To A Name
I was learning, and learning quickly, that the most effective and wholesome way of promoting my project was by hitching a ride on the shoulders of the veritable giants of the space. When it comes to WAX, I can think of no bigger giant – other than WAX themselves – than AtomicHub.
Through their weekly Twitter Spaces, they consistently provide opportunities for anyone to share their platform. Feeling especially confident one Friday, I jumped into their call to do a little respectful shilling. I was even invited, in the capacity of an NFT writer, to join their first women-only Twitter Space for Women’s History Month.
It was in there that I met Cheese – one of the hosts of Whine and Cheese in the Metaverses on YouTube. Once again, I didn’t think my collection was anywhere near established enough to be included, but when Cheese put out a call for new creators to join as guest hosts, I sheepishly put up my hand. I was astonished when she excitedly welcomed me to join them, despite my collection not even being whitelisted yet.
The purpose of the show, she explained, was to interview anyone active in the space, no matter their level of experience. In fact, they were particularly interested in giving a platform to new creators, with their intention being to always “make you look good.”
When the day of my interview rolled around, I was nervous – terrified that I would accidentally say something stupid and reveal myself as the fraud my imposter syndrome convinced me I am.
That all melted away in a matter of minutes, as the informal and friendly atmosphere of the show calmed my nerves. It felt much less like an interview than a chat with friends and, as I discover every week, the warm embrace of the NFT community extends to all aspects of the space.
We talked at length about my collection, Cheese and her co-host, BEN68, asking questions with genuine interest and listening, rapt, as I told the tale of my entry into the space, the inspiration for my collection, and my plans for the future.
Throughout the show, they did their utmost to convince me that I’m not such an imposter after all, and I’m happy to report that it’s starting to sink in. To my delight, they even bought a bunch of my NFTs live on the show, and now my childlike glee is forever captured in the annals of the internet.
I’m not naive to the fact that some of these opportunities have been offered to me, either directly or indirectly, as a result of my position here at NFT Insider. That being said, all the platforms I’ve mentioned here would have been accessible to me anyway, so long as I was a consistent presence in the community.
Costume Clash welcomes creators of all levels with open arms, “as long as the collection ain’t shady,” according to Josh. Anyone can speak in an AtomicHub Twitter Space, and the Whine and Cheese Show is specifically interested in up-and-coming creators.
The opportunities are seemingly endless, and the giants friendly and welcoming. I have no doubt that, as the space continues to grow, so too will these promotional and collaborative avenues.
Pretty soon those promotional sharks will realise they’re wasting their efforts, and never again will my inbox play host to ‘promote your project how much u want’ messages.
I look forward to the day.
Jazz Meyer
Multidisciplinary artist, mixing old-world crafts with modern tech. Pagan silversmith. Aspiring NFT artist. Figuring it out as I go.
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