Published on 11 July 2022 6 min read

During the past few years, the NFT market has grown from a couple of million dollars per year to a $22 billion business. In fact, it is forecasted that NFTs will grow at a rate of 40% per year for the next five years. Needless to say, NFTs have become a big deal. For artists, this is an incredible opportunity to share their work with the world. If you are looking to share your work more widely, it's imperative that you learn how to mint an NFT. Minting is the process where someone brings an NFT into existence from the blockchain. The minter will pay what is known as the mint fee in order to create the NFT. An NFT can either be minted by the project creator or someone who would like to purchase the NFT from the creator. To help you get started, the Daisie team has created a step-by-step guide on how you can mint your work.

Minting Your First NFT

So what exactly is an NFT? An NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. This is an asset that is created on a blockchain such as Ethereum or Solana. An NFT can be just about any type of media, from artwork to music, movies to sound files, or animated work. The unique appeal of NFTs is that it provides proof of authorship by the creator.

Since the NFT ensures that you get credit as the author, you can gain certain benefits, such as setting up a royalty to receive a percentage of each sale. All transactions are also recorded on a public ledger where you can set the royalty rate when the NFT is sold on the secondary market.

In order to mint your NFT, you will have to use an NFT marketplace. OpenSea is currently the most popular NFT marketplace, but you can compare others that may have a better price offering for you. Therefore, this tutorial will first show you how to mint an NFT on OpenSea, then we will briefly show you how to mint an NFT on Solana.

Connect Your Wallet

The first step that you will need to take is to open a crypto wallet. This will allow you to connect to an NFT marketplace. On OpenSea, you can either click the wallet icon or the Create button. If you happen to be on another marketplace, you will be prompted to connect your wallet.

The most common crypto wallet is Metamask, which allows you to interact with the Ethereum blockchain. Essentially, when you learn how to mint an NFT with OpenSea, you are also learning how to mint an NFT with Metamask. That's because both OpenSea and the Metamask wallet are designed for the Ethereum blockchain.

After you have connected your wallet, you will need to fill out your profile. As a creator, you will want to let your profile describe who you are as an artist and what type of NFTs you have available.

Create Your First Item

Now that you have connected your crypto wallet and created your profile, it is time to start minting! Click the create button. At this point, you will be prompted to upload your file to the marketplace. This could be your digital art file, music file, or any other piece of digital media that you would like to offer as an NFT.

In addition to uploading your file as an NFT, you will have the option to add a description of your work. The description can tell the potential buyer about the NFT, the project in general and specific the unique attributes of the NFT.

Additionally, you can add links to your project website. This will allow potential buyers to learn more about your NFT project. Finally, you can specify which blockchain your NFT is using (Ethereum, Solana, etc.). Many potential buyers tend to focus on purchasing NFTs on specific blockchains due to transaction costs.

Finally, you will want to set the royalty rate for your NFT. This is how much you will receive each time your NFT is sold. As an example, you can set the royalty rate to either 5% or 10 percent. After you have filled out all the information, click complete, and you are done. Your NFT is minted.

Make Sure Your Wallet is Funded

After you have minted your NFT, you will need to sell it to the marketplace. Therefore, you will need to fund your wallet. Since we are using OpenSea and the Metamask wallet as an example, you will need to purchase Ethereum. You can purchase Ethereum from a number of different crypto-trading platforms, such as Coinbase or Gemini. On OpenSea, you also have the option to purchase Ethereum directly from the marketplace by using a credit card. Your Ethereum will be used to pay what is known as the "gas fee" to sell your NFT on the marketplace.

After you have purchased the crypto and placed it in your crypto wallet. You will need to transfer the crypto onto your NFT marketplace account.

List Your NFT for Sale

Now that you have successfully minted your NFT and funded your account, you are ready to list your NFT for sale.

There are two different types of ways that you can sell your NFT:

Fixed price - A fixed price is the "buy it now" price where someone can instantly purchase your NFT at a fixed price.
Timed auction - With an auction, you set a deadline, and the person who bids the highest price purchases your NFT.

Whether you are using a fixed price or a timed auction, you will need to choose the cryptocurrency of choice. If you are selling on OpenSea, then you will be using Ethereum as the cryptocurrency of choice. Also, be aware that NFT marketplaces collect a fee for the sale price. On OpenSea, the fee is 2.5% of the selling price.

After you have completed the listing, the gas fee will be calculated. The gas fee will vary according to the amount of network activity on the blockchain. You should be aware that Ethereum charges pretty high gas fees. However, there are less-expensive alternatives that will be discussed later.

Manage Your NFT Marketing

Now that your NFT is minted and listed for sale, you will want to promote your work. While NFT marketplaces can make your work discoverable through its internal search engine, you will need to do some marketing. Most successful NFT artists will make use of social media platforms, such as Twitter and Discord. Also, be sure to interact with potential patrons on the NFT marketplace itself.

Minting an NFT on Solana

As mentioned before, gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain can be rather high. If you have limited funds, then you will want to mint your NFT using Solana. The top Solana NFT marketplaces include Solanart, Magic Eden, and Solsea. Instead of using a Metamask wallet, you can use the Phantom wallet and purchase SOL (the Solana cryptocurrency) on a crypto-trading site. Once you have purchased SOL, you can go to a Solana NFT marketplace and continue with the similar steps laid out above.

Summing It Up

Connect your wallet.
Create your first item.
Fund your wallet.
List your NFT for sale.
Promote your NFT business.
Consider minting an NFT on Solana as a lower-cost alternative.

Learn How to Mint an NFT with Daisie

Whether you have been a creator for years or you are just starting out, you will want to get involved in the NFT space. Since this technology is so new, you'll want to learn more about how different blockchains work, what is the most convenient crypto wallet to have and where is the best place to sell your NFTs. To help you get started, we encourage you to join the Daisie community. Here, you will find classes on the world of crypto and minting NFTs, and learn some of the best tips and tricks from creators themselves.

NFTs are the future of creation. Getting started with your first mint today will help you take advantage of a growing marketplace that can help take your career to the next level.