NFT’s for Beginners: Where to start with easy explanations and examples

Ever found you're out of the loop when the conversation around the dinner table turns to NFT's? Same here. Which is why I've put a ban on any talk around NFT's unless it's about that story of that man who sold an mp3 of his farts as NFT for 85 bucks. I could talk about that all day. In fact I'm still in the throes of convincing Tuula that I could do something similar with mine and Charlies. It's the duet the world has been waiting for.

So I've dipped my toes in the water and wanted to present some of my findings. I've broken it down into categories. What is an NFT? Am I too late to the NFT party? Can I make money selling my art as an NFT?

What is an NFT?

So is it a fad? Well the noise surrounding NFT's is getting louder and louder. Let's begin with the definition. NFT stands for Non-Fungible Tokens. It's a one of a kind, non-replaceable digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. The (T) Token element means it can be verified on the block chain. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.

Imagine if you will a real life chain. All the links of that chain can be synced, they can talk to each other. Now imagine an NFT is an attachment to the bedrock of that chain. The rest of that chain has now verified that NFT and the record of ownership can be traced within the foundations of that block chain. With me so far?

So what are the potentials for NFT's?

There's no doubt that social media has brought NFT's to a digital audience. It's become a major social currency. Just take the example of Jay Z's Twitter profile pic was probably worth up $127,000. I know right? Crikey, no wonder Elon Musk is investing.

But the potentials far outstretch ridiculously overpriced profile pics. Imagine for a minute you could sell your house as an NFT. The ownership would be recorded as a digital purchase, but the physical asset will be a transaction that will circumvent Stamp Duties or Real Estate Agent fees. Now I have your attention yeah? There is a lot of scope and we've only just scraped the surface.

Am I too late to invest in NFT's?

This is the question that keeps me awake at night. Have I come too late to the party to make any kind of remuneration? What I have learned about anything with regards to digital platforms, is the best time to start anything new, is yesterday. The next best time, is today. I was in relatively early with YouTube and Instagram. Not nearly as early as some other folk of course. However, whilst getting in there early has cache, getting in there and doing it better becomes the ultimate strategy. You always feel too late or too early to anything. In either case, if you're looking at the landscape the best thing to do is assess, take stock and think how can you add value or do anything better. Being first is an identity, but not the big picture. Some good thoughts on this are explored more by Gary Vee in this video.

Where to start where you don't know where to begin 

My mate has his head deep into the world of NFT's. He doesn't know I'm sharing his handle but he is on Twitter here. He's not looking for exposure and I'm fairly he sure he doesn't want any. (Don't be put off by his follower count, that's not the story here. He does make money on NFT's so I'd recommend looking at his profile and seeing who he follows and maybe tag along for the ride. 

Of course there is Discord where I believe all the cool NFT kids hang out. You can find an invite page here. 

I did a quick search for the best YouTubers that are currently explaining away NFT's and that listicle can be found here. 

If you love fashion, interiors and illustration art NFTs you must check out Tuula Rose Art NFTs exclusively available on Opensea.

Lastly, you have purpose built NFT website builders if you're looking to get started with a portfolio.