Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have seen remarkable growth in the past year. The cryptographically-unique token class is currently worth well above $10 billion total value locked (TVL). Although many users associate NFTs with Ethereum’s ERC-721 token standard, the digital collectibles industry is rapidly expanding to other layer-1 smart contract networks like Solana.
The Solana ecosystem is gradually becoming a hotbed for minting NFTs. If you are curious about getting started on this Ethereum competitor, this guide highlights how to mint, market and promote Solana based NFTs.
What is Solana?
Solana was launched in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko following growing concerns about the slow transaction speed of the principal blockchain protocols, Bitcoin and Ethereum. The two prominent crypto projects suffered from a shortage of high throughput, low cost, and energy efficiency due to a reliance on the outmoded proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm.
The Solana blockchain was conceptualized as a means to address these lapses. Yakovenko opted for a hybrid consensus algorithm: the proof-of-stake (PoS) and proof-of-history (PoH) timing mechanisms. These two algorithms give Solana a base transaction per second (TPS) of 50,000 with a potential to handle 710,000 TPS in the future.
Additionally, the platform is a layer-1 smart contract network that has been touted as a likely successor to the Ethereum network due to its high energy efficiency and low cost for processing transactions. The platform aims to enable a more economically-viable and technologically-superior decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for developing decentralised applications.
The Solana ecosystem has since expanded beyond the DeFi space and is now a booming space for the fast-rising Web3 economy.
NFTs and Metaverse projects are currently building on Solana, and the protocol is now home to some of the most exciting projects in the crypto space. SOL is Solana crypto and the governance token for the blockchain network.
How to Create NFTs on Solana
In the past year, the NFT boom led to critical issues, such as network congestion and high gas fees, within the Ethereum blockchain. Layer-2 scaling solutions like Polygon have been able to keep the Ethereum network relevant in a vastly competitive field. However, this has not been able to stop the rise of several Ethereum alternatives.
At the moment, Ethereum-based NFT marketplace OpenSea still controls a large chunk of the market, but the recurrent challenges have led to users pivoting towards Solana’s SolSea. Aside from offering lower minting fees and faster transaction output, the marketplace brings so much more to the NFT sub-sector.
Solsea is the first minting platform that incorporates copyright-licences into NFTs. This way, NFTs are properly licensed, and creators are protected from having their works stolen. The platform also comes with multi-crypto payment support making it easy to buy and sell NFTs with other digital assets besides SOL.
Want to learn how to mint NFTs on Solana? Follow these detailed steps:
1) Visit Solsea
The easiest means to mint Solana NFT projects is to use the Solsea platform. Visit their official website to get started.
2) Connect Wallet
Like most things on Web3, you need a compatible crypto wallet to mint NFTs. Solana uses a plethora of wallets, including Phantom, Solflare, Torus, Sollet, and Coin98. However, the most popular is the Phantom wallet.
If you don’t have any, select a Phantom wallet and download the Google Chrome extension. Add it to your frequent extensions for easy access. When your wallet is set, click on ‘Connect Wallet’ to synchronize with the platform.
3) Create NFT
Once your wallet is connected, you can mint your first NFT. Click on the ‘Create’ button and select ‘single NFT’ or ‘Collection’.
Fill in the relevant images, videos, or audio you want to mint while taking cognisance of the stipulated formats and dimensions they should come in. Follow the on-screen prompts and click on ‘Mint’ to complete the process. Your NFT should be minted within minutes.
How to Promote Solana-based NFT Projects
Like every new endeavor, your new Solana NFT projects need exposure to thrive in a rapidly-growing industry. This is where Solana NFT promotion comes into play. To help you kickstart your marketing strategy, here are a few tips you can employ:
- Unlock the Power of Reddit
Reddit may not enjoy the global recognition of Facebook and Instagram, but the social media platform is a hotbed for everything crypto and digital asset investments. It’s main perk, is that this is where all go doers are, not tire kickers. You can find industry-specific subreddits where you meet and interact with individuals with like-minded passions and belief systems. These are some subreddits you can use to promote your Solana projects:
https://www.reddit.com/r/solana/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoToFuture/
https://www.reddit.com/r/NFTsMarketplace/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SolanaNFT/
Don’t forget to promote your Solana NFT project on Reddit – the most relevant social media for crypto community. Image source: Reddit.com
- Tap Into Social Media
Popular social media platforms like Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok can also aid your Solana NFT promotion. Follow similar projects and engage with their posts for exposure.
- Promote Other NFT Projects
The NFT sub-sector is a dynamic place. It is built around the common ideology of community. Instead of constantly tooting your horn, take out time to also create a spotlight for other projects. This would allow you to easily tap into their audience and create a genuine relationship with other founders.
- Kickstart a PR campaign
Don’t second guess the relevance of professional help, and truth be told, this is when you truly take your project to a pro level. Use a professional PR service if need be and launch a PR campaign to put your project out there. A dedicated crypto PR and ad network like Bitmedia, can push your project’s press release out to all relevant publications and boost not only brand awareness but also SEO. PRs are all about reputation. So if you want to be considered as a key player on the market, being published is an incremental part of it.
Take a look at the great example of launching a PR campaign via Bitmedia.io for Solana-based NFT project Chainers.io. This is an ambitious NFT Metaverse game that wanted to involve a driven community to create an entire Metaverse called – Chainverse.
Just a day after the PR was published, this project received 1376 unique registrations. Isn’t that a cool result in 24 hours?
Image source: AMBCrypto.com
- Paid Promotions
A paid promotion is a step further in your PR efforts. Crypto ad networks would greatly enhance your ability to connect with your target audience. Why? Because this is how you stream your ads to millions of people, creating real, unmatched conversions. According to Bitmedia, the best way to run ads is to test each paid ads campaign, and then narrow down your reach funnel to only those regions and ads that perform best.
- Employ Influencers
NFTs ride on popularity and public acceptance. Using an influencer on Twitter to hype and bring the needed attention to your project would yield dividends long after your project is established.
Push your project with effective banner ads through crypto advertising networks. Image source: Bitmedia.io
Conclusion
Digital collectibles are the next frontier of the human experience. Solana NFTs are gradually enjoying centre stage attention as more users enter the NFT space.
Why are Solana NFTs so popular?
The popularity of NFTs in the Ethereum rival’s platform is largely tied to the Solana ecosystem’s inherent capabilities. Solana comes with many benefits, including low-cost, highly scalable, and energy efficiency. Users can easily mint and purchase NFTs without leaving a dent in their pockets.
