Many people are beginning to grasp the real potential that NFTs have to generate income and earn a livable wage. With that being said, how can you use NFTs to make money?
To generate an income with NFTs, you can sell your creations and services, invest in other’s NFT projects, work or even create a job in the NFT field assuming a position has not yet been fulfilled. There are many ways you can go about making money with NFTs, but it’s up to you to decide which is the best path for you.
Generating an income with NFTs.
There are many ways you can generate an income with NFTs. I am going to walk you through several strategies which can all be used to make money with non-fungible tokens.
Sell your creations and services
Are you a creative person? If so, then earning an income being a creator is one of the most popular options when it comes to making money with NFTs. A creator can appear in many forms. Are you an artist? Maybe you’re a welder? Or, perhaps you enjoy film production?
With NFTs, you have the ability to turn your passion into income, all from the comfort of your own living room. As a creator, you are able to offer your consumers a digital copy of your physical work, in the form of an NFT. Here’s how that may look:
Let’s say you’re a sculpter, you create a physical product that your consumers love. With NFTs, you can pair a digitized format of your sculpture along with the physical product. We will assume it’s a one-of-one sculpture, so you offer the physical sculpture (shipped), and the NFT to go along with it. But, the NFT has smart contract capabilities which allows you to add in any perks or terms you would like.
This means you can add more value for your consumers by offering various products and services. In addition to the sculpture for example, you can write in the terms for a contract which states that you will be providing pre-recorded video classes 3 days per week, for 8 consecutive weeks with support, on how to sculpt, and tips for building a successful sculpting business. This offer will be included with the digital and physical portions of your product, adding even more value.
Of course, this is only one example of how creators can benefit from using NFTs to add more value to their products and services. If you want to better understand how NFTs are unlocking more value for creators, make sure to check out my other article here.
Earn royalties from your NFTs
Regardless of whether you are a creator or an investor, you should know about NFT royalties. Royalties are pre -determined percentages set by the creator at the time of minting. So, every time your NFT sells to someone, you receive that percentage of the total sale price. Realistically, percentages can be set to anything but the most common range seems to be 10-20% royalty fees.
Royalties allow creators to continue to benefit from their hard work, even after selling the piece. If you create NFTs which are traded often, or sell for significant prices, then you are able to earn passive income indefinitely from that specific asset you created.
From a collector’s perspective, I think it’s fair to say collectors should be made aware of any royalties that may be included in the sale price. The reason I say this is because the percentage for the royalty fee comes out of the sale price. So, if the NFT you collected has a 10% royalty fee and you sell it for $100, ten of those dollars goes to the creator’s pockets. Don’t say I didn’t make you aware!
In all reality, royalties are good for both creators and collectors. The creator benefits for as long as their work is valued, and the collectors are able to help support the creators to be able to continue to make good products and offer unmatched service.
Become an NFT investor/trader
Personally, I feel that investing in NFTs is one of the most intriguing and fun ways to generate income. With investing, there are many ways one could go about doing it. You can invest either short term, or long term and even do a mixture of the two techniques.
Short term NFT investing is similar to day trading stocks, except more fun. When investing in short term NFTs, you have to understand what the market is doing, and where the attention is being traded. This way, you are able to buy low, and then resell for a quick profit.
Many people have had great success with this approach. But remember, day trading NFTs is a full time job if you are doing it enough to earn a livable income.
Long term NFT investing may be a good way to build wealth, I consider it similar to investing in a 401k, but maybe even more risky at this point in time due how early we still are in the world of digital assets.
However, play your cards right and you could be looking at some serious income in your future. With NFTs, you have the ability to invest in individuals, brands, businesses, and even intellectual property rights. Just imagine owning the first ever Super Mario illustration, and then having the ability to not only verify that asset, but also the option to sell it on a secondary marketplace years later for a profit.
Keep in mind, if you choose to invest in NFTs it is crucial that you always do your own research before making any investment decisions. When you invest in an NFT, you are betting on the person behind the project and their ability to execute on behalf of their brand. This isn’t a scenario where you want to simply wish for the best, but rather ensure you do your due diligence and understand what exactly you are putting your hard-earned money into.
I actually wrote an article for One37PM where I share my thoughts on Choosing the Right NFT Project For You—where I go over some of the essentials of what I look for personally, when investing in NFTs to add to my long term investment portfolio.
Of course, you can do a mixture of these two investment strategies as well. If you find yourself to be a successful day trader, you can flip your NFT investments for a quick profit, buy up to a higher-valued NFT, and continue that cycle until you have the liquidity to invest in a long-term project with a higher value.
Staking NFTs is another option to invest your money into if you are looking for potentially good returns. When you stake an NFT, you put a certain amount of money into that NFT to gain a percentage of the ownership, this percentage can increase in value based on the value of the asset itself.
Staking NFTs can be a good option if you are bullish on a certain asset but you don’t have the funds needed to buy it outright. Instead, the NFT is transferred to a staking platform where the governance is assigned and the APR is determined, before the token is staked.
Remember: Investing in NFTs comes with EXTREME RISK. Always do your own research. Never spend more than you can afford to lose.
Get a job in the NFT space
With the countless number of NFT projects, as well as all the companies who wish to incorporate this technology now and in the near future, many jobs will be created in the process. NFTs will open up positions such as designers, developers, marketers, and influencers to help support their brand and ensure these digital assets provide the best value to their consumers.
As non-fungible tokens become adopted by the mainstream and integrated into our everyday lives, the opportunities and potential to work as part of a team creating NFTs grows even greater.
Create a job in the NFT space
I’ve thought about the possibility that there may be a new job that hasn’t existed before with NFTs and the technology surrounding them. For example; before cryptocurrency existed there was never a need for a crypto-miner, and now there is. Simple jobs like these are a great examples of how new jobs will be formed with the advancement of technology, especially Web 3.0!
If you have a special skill or service that you could offer, especially if it’s not already being offered, then I believe if there is demand, you can create that job for yourself and for many others who may be able to learn your craft, as well.
Don’t get discouraged if you feel that you have something to offer but you don’t see it on the market yet. This isn’t a bad thing, in fact; this may be a good indicator that you are onto something great!
Is it hard to generate income with NFTs?
From outside the NFT community looking in, it can appear that making money with NFTs is as easy as taking a picture of something, calling it a one of a kind, giving it a clever crypto name, and then allowing people to bid outrageous prices on it. Fortunately and unfortunately, this is not the case.
It can be very difficult to generate income with NFTs. In oder to make money you need to practice patience, be consistent in your work, and always continue to provide value to your consumers so that there is demand for whatever you may be offering. Moreover, try to stay curious and innovate.
Generally, no matter what you choose to do in life, in order to earn an income you have to work for it. You have to contribute something to society. Is this an easy task? Maybe if you know exactly what you want to contribute and you have an idea on how you are going to execute.
Now, going into NFTs with a money-making attitude isn’t a terrible thing, but it could lead you astray. I believe that in order to make money for yourself, you should find a way to earn a living doing whatever it is you love to do. But before you do that you need to figure out what it is you love to do. Once you determine the source of your true happiness, then you can figure out a way to make a living doing it. I know, it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.
On a more optimistic note, I believe that since there are so many ways you can earn money with NFTs, this allows for even more opportunities to generate an income, and be happy doing it.
Just remember, great brands and businesses take years to build. So if something like that is your goal with NFTs, know that patience is worth the process. Learning new things and meeting new friends is priceless in my experience.
Ultimately, earning money with non-fungible tokens takes a lot of self-awareness, hard work, consistency, persistence, patience, and discipline. If you are looking for overnight success, this is not the space for you. If you want to build a brand however, NFTs may be the perfect tech you can use to leverage yourself.
Best tips for generating income with NFTs.
Alright, if you are still reading this article it’s probably because you want to generate some income using NFTs, rightfully so. Here are my top tips for generating income with NFTs:
| What actions to take: | The potential outcome: |
| 1. Find out what you like to do. What makes you happiest? | Once you discover what exactly tickles your fancy, then you can begin to work towards a life filled with that passion. |
| 2. Double-up on your strengths. What are you naturally good at? | Everybody has something that they are naturally good at. The more self-aware you become, the easier it is to double-down on your strengths and continue to build on that. |
| 3. Find a way to turn your passion into income. | Okay, now that you know what makes you happy, you can find a way to offer your goods and/or services to the people in your community. Be unique. Standout. Innovate. |
| 4. Watch, learn, and listen to the community. | One of the best ways to learn about what is going on in the community is to get involved. Get active on social media; Twitter, Clubhouse, YouTube and Discord are all good options to listen and learn. |
| 5. Ask as many questions as possible. | If you have a question, ask. Don’t assume any questions are dumb—they aren’t. The NFT community is about support. Ask away! |
| 6. Get your hands dirty. | For the most part, earning an income with NFTs requires you to get your hands dirty. Go through the motions. Buy crypto, get yourself a wallet, buy and create NFTs, learn as you go. |
| 7. Be patient. | To generate an income with NFTs, I suggest you practice patience. Patience while listening, patience when creating, and patience as you build your brand into something that makes you happy. |
| 8. Stay consistent in your efforts. | Making money with NFTs doesn’t generally happen overnight, not until you have been consistent enough in your efforts and give yourself a fair chance. Spend at least 6 months working hard before expecting any results. Overall, it takes years to build a legacy. |
| 9. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. | There’s no shame in needing help, especially when it comes to NFTs. Have questions? Reach out to trustworthy member in the community, you are bound to find some help. |
| 10. Be aware of scams. | Unfortunately, the NFT space is filled with spam and hackers who are able to steal all your assets at the touch of a button. It’s important to be aware and keep your assets safe. |
Risks of making money with NFTs.
With anything that has the potential to make you money, comes risk. NFTs are no exception to this logic.
There are numerous risks when it comes to generating an income when dealing with NFTs. For example, many of the jobs may be temporary work, your personal brand can be slow to get traction, and you can actually lose money if you happen to buy something that decreases in value. As a creator, if you are minting NFTs but not generating any sales, that can be a loss as well.
If you are considering making NFTs your full-time passion, make sure you are in a position where you can still support yourself financially, while still being able to work on your passion. If you jump head first into NFTs with no plan of action or source of income, it’s going to be tough to support yourself and your goals.
Overall, the risk when making money with non-fungible tokens should be considered extremely high, especially at this point in time when the technology is still new.
I recommend that you do plenty of research and educate yourself on the most current practices and culturally relevant aspects of the NFT community before making any decisions on how you are going to generate income with NFTs.
