So you’ve built your community, you’ve got that hunger, that demand… you’ve dropped your collection and they’ve sold (maybe not completely but well enough)… so how do you sustain the project?
That’s the challenge for NFT projects today. The space is going through a kind of Darwin-esque reckoning where only the strong will survive. But how do you identify what strong is and, more importantly, how is that ‘strength’ attained.
Cut through in today’s NFT world (which is vastly different to the one from say a few weeks or a month ago) is very challenging. Seemingly everyone is launching an NFT project. For the NFT fanbase it’s exhausting trying to keep up. For the NFT project founders is scary putting yourself out there as the list of failed projects grows by the day.
In between all the carbon copies, the apes of apes, the next invisibles, every comical animal under the sun, there are projects that have built a genuine community in it for the long term. But it’s not enough anymore to just drop a collection and hope the hype takes over. Today the drop is just the start, yesterday setting up the Discord was the start.
So what’s next? What’s the tool to continue to keep the community engaged? It’s time to utilise the utilities…
Are utilities created equal?
The answer to the above is… absolutely not. I’ve seen projects that claim to have a cornucopia of utilities but most of them are empty, irrelevant or just a spruik for other projects i.e. just whitelists… These utility promises are paper thin and communities are quickly sorting the wheat from the chaff.
So what projects are doing utilities well? (in my experience)..
Pathfinders:
I’ve written about Pathfinders before. Why? Because I love it. Great project, excellent community engagement, quality art and design (uniquely so which is a blessing in this NFT world of copies). The other thing that appealed to me is the concept of the ZepBox. The what? I hear you say…
So a ZepBox is a kind of loot box. Think of a power up in an old video game and multiply it by a million. It provides utilities for the project community that they can actually use. The first one is being revealed soon but already we know it contains a mix of physical products, NFTs and whitelists including:
5x Oculus Quest 2
10x Ledger Nano S
I really want one of the Oculus Quest 2… Ok that’s out there now…
Alongside the giveaways in the ZepBox, the best thing about it is the community engagement. You get to vote on how much of the community fund you want to put in and nominate what giveaways you want included. Also, the whitelists they are providing are actually for good projects, vetted and solid opportunities.
Furthermore, the project recognises holders and provides rewards for what they refer to as ‘Genesis’ community members. In the upcoming ‘Ethereals’ drop, genesis community members get a free mint from the collection.
The founders hold regular AMAs and provide regular updates offering clarity where other projects are murky and quiet.
Definitely a project to check out and get into.
Here are mine:
PsychoKitties
Ok, they say you never forget your first… and PsychoKitties was my first NFT project. A friend told me about it, I’d just joined Crypto.com and I wanted for an hour or so for the drop. I managed to get on progressing rapidly from 7000 or so on the random waiting list to around 2000. Eventually I was able to mint and went for the maximum of 5. It was a great decision and a wonderful first project to be part of. I will truly never forget it.
The success of the project has enabled me to invest in all of the other projects I’m now part of without having to spend additional capital. Furthermore, I’ve been invited and attended a meta rave. Ok, my system was not the best to get the most out of the experience and I ended up locking myself in a toilet for about 5 minutes through my inability to control my avatar but overall, it was fun and completely unique.
Since then, I’ve received a free PsychoMollies airdrop and am part of a project that continues to give back. There has already been a collaboration announced with Heavy Metal, another Crypto.com collection as well as a drop of 2,500 hares to be given away to PsychoKitty and PsychoMolly holders.
Further airdrops are coming along with a version 2 of the roadmap but this project has already given me so much. It’s been great to be part of it and the ride is only just beginning.
Here’s what I own…
TronWars
Another project with legs, TronWars fascinated me from the start. I read the roadmap and couldn’t help to want to be involved. The roadmap is currently being updated to a 2.0 version but the initial project promised:
A full size 3D print of your Tron for legendary holders
Community participation in the project through a DAO infrastructure enabling holders to give direction to the technical, economical and commercial aspects of the project
A private investment program for holders to pitch ideas or goals to for a chance of investment
Private events and seminars for holders
A metaverse ecosystem including the potential for a TronWars game
Since then, they’ve also announced that each Trons holder will received a free airdrop from a new collection drop called BabyTrons or TronX depending on who you speak to.
They’ve also announced:
The creation of DigitalT Studio, formed by the team that worked on the awesome design for TronWars. This ‘studio’ will work on other NFT projects.
Trons holders will also received TronWars tokens that they can spend on NFTs from some of these other projects.
Trons holders will also receive a percentage of funds raised from the work the DigitalT Studio undertakes on these other projects.
Further uses for the TronWars tokens will be announced.
The amazing thing about this series of utilities is that it comes from a project that sold out all 8888 mints in a matter of minutes. It was already successful but it’s believe in the importance of the community has continued unabated.
Here’s what I own:
CSLIM — The World Collection
Last but not least, I wanted to give a shout out to CSLIM and his collection on Crypto.com called The World. Quite simply I just love the art. It’s amazing and you should definitely check it out.
I always find pieces of art inspired by Japan, China or Korea fascinating. They speak to me and take me back to some fond memories of travelling to these incredible places. The cultural significance of the art astounds me and I can’t help but be captivated.
Now, I know this is about utilities and really there’s only one utility that CSLIM is offering so I feel like I’m almost cheating given the array of utilities being offered by the other projects mentioned. However, the utility for the world is simple, to the point and very real.
CSLIM will provide a monthly AI-inspired ART airdrop on the 21st of each month for the rest of the time the artist is alive. So basically, I get free art every month. When you love the art, you don’t really need to ask for much more than this…
Here’s what I own:
So, you see NFT projects have to evolve today in order to not just compete but to sustain an engaged and active long term community. I’m really excited to see what projects come up with next but it’ll be hard to beat the innovation of the ZepBox and the inclusivity of TronWars as well as the simplicity of CSLIM’s the world.
Feel free to share any projects you’re part of that offer great utilities in the comments below…