The NFT Nurturing guide

The emotional buying

In a time of bear cycle, it's common to hold NFTs bought with a strong conviction. During this period, all NFTs look the same and don't have a particular value over others. If you get a rare one, you won't sell it much above the floor.

On the opposite, during a bull cycle, NFTs with a special thing tends to be sold at a higher price. Emotion takes a bigger role, and it's easier to deal for higher price, especially via direct sales made through Discord. This 1/1 transaction are very tensed. It's hard to define a right market value. Some factors can give you hints, but in the end the price is set by what the buyer is ready to put.

This is where I get to my point. During bear markets, it's a good idea to take advantage of a low FP to find some under the radar gems. 1/1 or super rare NFTs are still convoited and require significant investment. But some element of the collection are worth interest and are sold at floor price.

NB: Rare and popular traits that still sit a higher price can be negotiated for better deals.

Nurture your NFT

Once you collected your NFT of interest, you will have to hold it until the next bull phase to propose it at a much better price. It's already a good strategy that can be enhanced by pushing your investment in this special NFT. By improving this NFT, you can make it even more desirable. This where NFT nurturing comes into play.

The idea of nurturing is to add perks to your initial NFT. Acquiring it will come with a bunch of surprises that will delight the buyer. See it as marketing packaging. During the process you will enjoy crafting a better experience for the future NFT holder.

Chose your NFT

To accomplish this, you need to first find a good NFT. My favorite play is to look for clean NFTs. They often have less traits and have a low rarity level. But they work super well as a PFP: they always caught the attention of the community and stand out in the marketplace listings.

Another great option is to look for rare traits that are undervalued. Let's take the Tensorians example. The Hoodie Hooded trait is popular because founders use it as PFPs. The floor sits at the double or triple of the floor price. During bear cycles, people may be tempted to sell it for a cheaper. That's an opportunity to no miss!

Now you have find your underrated NFT, it's time to nurture it.

Do your chores

The first obvious thing to do is to do all the chores required by the collection. For instance with the Famous Fox Federation, you have a system of mission and leveling. So, as example, if you go for a FFF, make sure to do all the missions available. Claynosaurz has a class system. Make sure you Clayno get his class.

Every points earned, every special attribute gained, are good things for the future. Remember that you will probably have to negotiate through DMs. For that you will have to build a compelling offer for your buyer. Think about the box around a jewel. It makes a ring look totally different. Providing perks like good leveling to an already special NFT, will make it even more attractive.

Augment your NFT

The next step will be to augment your NFT. You are not limited to what the collection proposes. You can bring value to your NFT without waiting for the collection owner to make it better.

The first thing you can do is to identify an artist and ask him to do a comission for you by creating an alternative version of your NFT. So anyone buying your PFP will get 2 visuals for the price of 1. It's my favorite improvement. It's fun to do, requires little effort on your side and fund artists on Solana. Whatever happens next, you will be satisfied.

Now you understand you can imagine anything. You can create a lore around your character, make a website for it or model a 3D avatar from it that you can use in metaverses like Portal. And last but not least, you can sell merch around your NFT. For instance, the BAYC holders even create companies around the IP of their ape.

I'm not saying that you must do crazy stuff but any perks around your NFT will make it appealing. When someone will fall in love with your NFT, if you propose a big markup over 50% above the floor, it will require the best experience possible. It's a story of collectible and anything that makes your piece of art brighter will help.

Examples

In the following I put two examples of nurturing I do. They are not financial advice or buying recommandation, they have only illustration purpose.

Example 1: Famous Fox Federation

Initial NFT: lvl 0, clean traits, smiling face and efficient PFP

Same NFT with FFF, lvl 68, new traits from leveling it up to Tiers 2

Commission to get a 3D representation of the FFF.

Example 2: Tensorians

Initial NFT: stylish robotic pfp, gold colors and efficient PFP

Same NFT with pixel animation useable on Discord

Example 3: Bored/Mutant Ape Yacht club

Initial NFT: cool Bored/Mutant Ape Yacht club

Same NFT but the owner created a wine club branded with the NFT. All the bottles sold are branded with his Ape (see similar projects on Made by Apes).

Final notes

Through our three examples, we saw how the value of a single NFT can be increased via additional work. By adding features to your holding you will make it more attractive when the NFT market will be more active.

This strategy is very enjoying and can lead to beaufil returns, rewarding your work and your convictions. But keep in mind that it will lead you to overcommit on a collection. Unfortunately, your dedication doesn't prevent the collection to go to the garbage. So make sure to do it only with strong collections with a proven model.

Overall, it's a risky strategy, because it's a "all or nothing approach". It requires some design skills and a good sense of negotiaton. So, as usual put only the money you can afford to lose. In that case, you will enjoy to make your NFT shinier and eventually take some profits!