I’ve seen plenty of aspiring crypto artists making terrible mistakes when entering the space. Successful artists or collectors have been vocal about these issues, but I feel these errors need a higher exposure to better onboard newcomers. The good news is that they are straightforward to fix and should help you improve your brand, impact, and sales.
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Please keep in mind this list applies primarily to individual crypto artists. Extensive collections like 10k avatars are different (although some of these ideas also translate to that field).
1. Do NOT complain or harass collectors!
Some artists feel like people owe them something. The NFT hype creates a fake reality: it is easy to earn a living out of crypto art. It takes a lot of effort, talent, and luck. I’ve noticed some getting frustrated and starting to display two very wrong types of behaviors.
A) Complain about the NFT market as if their lack of sales was a scam or collector’s fault. I’ve seen this behavior from newcomers who give up on their 3rd day and artists who started to get some traction but got too greedy.
B) Beg to collectors or other artists to purchase their creations or showcase their art. Please don’t. Collectors will not consider your work if you, out of nowhere, message them directly or constantly tag them in your Twitter posts. Also, established artists, influencers, or collectors will not retweet your work if you haven’t build a relationship with them. If I retweeted every request I get, my content would be a joke. Especially in this space, elite artists and collectors are very selective in what they like and share. That’s what makes their creations, collections, and content unique.
2. Do NOT shill on NON-shill threads!
For those unaware, a shill thread is a tweet on Twitter or any place where an NFT conversation occurs, where people are looking to discover new art. A non-shill thread is an opposite. These days it is almost impossible to be on crypto Twitter without random people dropping their art as if they were street vendors.
I came across this tweet from Icki AKA @The_Kid_Icarus the other day (one of the best Twitter Spaces hosts out there). He expressed some of these ideas in this tweet. If you look closely in the Retweets, some people were shilling even there—a complete disservice.
3. Do NOT over-mint!
This one is hard to spot, but it is crucial. Some artists feel filling their profiles with NFTs is the right way to attract collectors, so they keep adding pieces after pieces. This strategy is ok, as long as you are selling!
You need to showcase volume and interest from the market before creating more supply.
Multivac shared a great way of handling this. They only have four to five NFTs available for sale in their Days of Our Life Collection. You can keep on creating in the background but only release the right amount of supply. They decided to go with four to five, but that can depend on your style, market, and editions.
4. Do NOT make NFT salads!
Right now, most platforms do not offer intuitive ways to show your collection. For that reason, many artists end up with an “NFT salad” (I love the concept provided by @BlueBadger2600).
As he mentions, your gallery should have a specific perspective and harmony. If you want to experiment with different styles, you should create various collections. For instance, you could use each platform to display a different style.
5. You are NOT linking your social profiles correctly!
Linking your accounts together is critical for multiple reasons. First of all, if people can’t find you, they won’t buy your art. Linking your social profiles to your main Twitter account is the first thing you should do when joining a marketplace. Additionally, serious collectors verify the creator is real because there are massive scams and catfishers out there.
Please, link your accounts and use a LinkTree, YAT, or similar service to aggregate your links.
6. You are NOT doing enough giveaways!
Giveaways are a great way to build a solid relationship with your fans. There are a few rules about giveaways you should follow:
It doesn’t matter if it is a small giveaway. Two people are enough.
Market your giveaway correctly. Share it in your social accounts, in conversations with other artists, and shilling threads (read item number two in this list!).
Give it time to receive participants (hours or days). Increase your audience by asking for a follow or a retweet as a way to enter the giveaway.
Don’t overdo it. Your art is valuable. I would suggest one giveaway every two weeks at maximum for independent artists, while one per month would be ideal.
7. You are NOT doing enough collaborations!
Collaborations are a great way to produce unique and innovative art while expanding your audience. The goal is to support each other by reaching new audiences.
Collaborations are not only for established artists. Even if you have a small number of sales or even 0 deals, you can make collabs! Do your homework and find artists with similar followers, sales volume, or time in the space. You might get lucky and find more established artists willing to work together. Offer to handle the logistics and the marketing in exchange to get their buy-in 😉
I hope these ideas help you to improve your sales. Don’t worry too much if you didn’t know them and made some of these mistakes. Keep in mind this space is not easy; it takes a lot of perseverance, talent, and luck! The good news is that they are easy to fix, and you should notice a drastic change soon as long as you stay consistent and mix good marketing with your creative talents.
Until next time,
- Kaloh
Shilling Section
Check out these cool drops from other crypto artists.
Thank's for these advices ! very interesting :)