NFT Collabs & Partnerships - Done Right!

I’ve “been around” when it comes to owning a business. However, in all these years, I have never seen an industry where partnering with your competition was such a smart move!

As always… if you prefer, you can listen/watch all of our newsletters as videos or podcasts here: https://youtube.com/@arisingfloor/videos (do me a favor and follow/subscribe, yes!?)

Last time we shared how to promote your NFT or Ordinal project for free. You can listen or read to that one by clicking here.

In today’s newsletter you’ll learn:

• Why you should LOVE the competition
• A buyer is a buyer is a buyer
• Hookup early and often
• Collaborative storytelling

As I mentioned above, I’ve “been around” in business over the last 40 or so years. All but 9 of them I’ve been self-employed in one way or another.

My first business was a perfume peddling company (they called me the “perfume pimp”) in my early 20’s where I met the love of my life… and the latest… well I have my hands in all kinds of stuff now, lol!

Over all of this time, I have never seen an industry where partnering with your competition (other NFT projects) can be such an important key to success.

Why you should LOVE the competition!

I’ve seen and done some promotions with other entrepreneurs over the years, but for the most part, it’s been more “marketing stuff” than anything. In this wild and wacky NFT industry, we routinely promote other projects’ products to our community… enthusiastically.

We’re all familiar with the standard WL collab… where in exchange for some type of mention (or not?) we agree to offer whitelist spaces to our community for their launch. Even so, I want to go beyond the usual and share some more interesting ideas and things I’ve seen done.

First… when I was new in the NFT promotion business I was a bit resistant to collaborations. It felt like I was “giving away my list”, to the competition. However, I’ve since found that there’s little harm in doing so. In fact, it’s a great way to grow your community and bring in potential holders.

In a lot of cases the more partnerships you can pull off — the faster you’ll grow. (of COURSE there are exceptions, only you can determine this)

Having said that… if you have a huge following from your NFTs or something else, have deep enough pockets to fully fund your growth without it, or an offer so incredible you don’t need any help to grow, you can skip the rest of this article.
For us little people who don’t have a following like Gary Vee or Mr. Beast, we might as well take the leg-up advantage!

A buyer is a buyer is a buyer

This is a phrase I heard early on when I turned from just doing mainstream advertising like TV, radio, newspaper, and direct mail… to learning “direct response marketing”.

If you’re not familiar with “direct-response marketing”, you should google and learn about it. It’s the most cash-efficient way to grow ANY type of business.

I have written several articles about building a mailing list that will help as well. Here’s one you probably should read or listen to if you haven’t started an email list yet: https://arisingfloor.com/articles/post/nft-creators-need-an-email-list

“A buyer is a buyer is a buyer” basically tells us that it’s OK to share your community with other projects and collaborate without worrying they’ll steal your business or harm you somehow.

The same people holding your NFT/Ordinal probably hold many others in addition… maybe hundreds or even thousands of others. They buy, and they buy, and they buy. Your goal is for yours to become “one of the NFTs they hold”… not “all of the NFTs they hold”.

You’re whale hunting my friend, and the best way to land one is to find him/her already swimming in someone else’s project!

Hookup early and often

Without any further ado — I think there’s been too much ado already — here are some NFT partnership strategies and collaboration ideas that I’ve either seen, or hoping to see.

Keep in mind, in THIS article I’m talking about collabs and partnering with other NFT producers. In the future, we can talk more about partnering with non-NFT groups. I touch a bit on that in this newsletter about a “USP”. Not sure what that is?

Take a peek: https://arisingfloor.com/articles/post/unique-selling-point

When it comes to NFT projects collaborating with each other, the possibilities are extensive. Your main goal is simply to produce a “win-win-win”… where both projects benefit, as do the holders.

It’s NOT HARD to do! Sadly, most projects simply are too lazy or uncreative to think outside of the box.

Here are some partnership and collaboration ideas specifically tailored for NFT projects:

-Shared Storyline Drops:

Consider launching similar NFTs at the same time… where each project mints exclusive NFTs that are part of a shared theme or storyline. This encourages collectors from one project to explore and engage with another.

Maybe share the same artist, and have him create 2 very similar collections where you each drop one. It may work better for 2 projects with existing collections already, but figure out a way. Be creative!

Maybe even add some type of utility where anyone who owns are eligible for something special.

-Do an NFT Artist Swap:

Projects can organize an artist swap, where artists from one project create limited edition pieces for another project, and vice versa. This introduces collectors to new artists and styles. You can even ask the other artist to somewhat “copy” what your initial collection is made of in his/her own style.

-Mutual Airdrops:

NFT projects can organize mutual airdrops for their communities. Holders of NFTs from one project may receive exclusive airdropped NFTs from another project, and visa-versa, forcing community engagement and cross-project collaboration.

Even if not “mutual”, if you announced an airdrop of your own, and announced that anyone who holds other project NFTs would be included, they would be happy to announce that for you. Again, it’s a win-win.

When they come to your Discord to qualify, they see that they get 4X whatever it is, if they own YOUR NFT as well. It’s what Ordinal $rugs just did to BLOW UP their Discord. Why? People love “free”.

-Non-Contest WL Qualifier:

I saw this done recently, and it was truly successful. A well-known project announced a launch for a new NFT coming out soon, and it was well-received and publicized. A second, newer project cut a deal with them where they would add anyone to their WL who owns 10 Ordinals from the second project.

Guess what dozens of people who owned less than 10 of these Ordinals did within a day or so of hearing the news? They went to secondary (Magic Eden) and bought whatever they needed to have 10 total in their wallets and qualify.

The floor close to doubled.

You can do this to qualify for a WL, an airdrop, entry to a game, a free mint… again, be creative.

-Collaborative Virtual Events:

Projects can host collaborative virtual events, like an online art exhibit or virtual conference, inviting both communities. This provides a platform for artists and creators from both projects to showcase their work and interact with the community.

An “AMA” (ask me anything) would fall into this as well. Why not host a weekly AMA where every week YOU host a Q&A (or whatever) call and invite the founders from 3–4–5 other projects as your guest?

Imagine your project getting exposure to several other projects a week, from their founder, your guest!

“But that’s a lot of work Deeekon!”. Yeah it is… Tough nuggies.

-In-GameAssets:

If you have a game, NFT projects can collaborate to create interoperable assets that can be used across platforms or metaverses. This encourages users to explore different projects while maintaining ownership of their assets.

I know of a handful of projects where other NFTs can be seen/used inside of their game or metaverses. Win, win… both the host and the others benefit this way.

-Cross-Promotion SMM Campaigns:

This falls on the side of marketing, but since it came to mind I’m adding it.
NFT projects can engage in cross-promotion campaigns, where they promote each other’s collections or activities through their social media channels, newsletters, or websites.

Collaborative Storytelling:

Projects can weave collaborative narratives or storylines into their NFT releases. This could involve characters or elements from one project appearing in the storylines of another, creating a shared universe in the case of a metaverse, or simply writing a backstory and including other projects.

Are you good with graphics, or can you type “fivver” into a browser? Why not have someone create a comic book series about your project? I bet you have community members who would LOVE TO write the story if you don’t want to!

For some benefit to you, invite other projects to be included in that week or month’s storyline. Heck, turn each one into a readable NFT, create a limited number, and watch how fast those sellout each month.

-Limited Edition Collaborations:

Collaborate on limited edition NFT releases that are only available through a joint effort. This could involve combining elements from each project’s theme or style to create something unique. What if you did this monthly?

One of the most well-known and successful Ordinal projects, “BTC Machines” does this regularly. They release “machines”, similar to their own OG Ordinal, that take on characteristics of other collections.

Most sell out in a few minutes.

-NFT Project Co-Challenges:

Create collaborative challenges or competitions between projects, where your communities compete for prizes of some sort. It can be a Discord game, meme’s, writing a poem about both projects, drawing a picture, designing a tee shirt… this is EASY to do.

If promoted properly, this will foster a sense of friendly competition and community spirit… and yeah… raise the floor!

I think I can sit here all day and come up with idea after idea, but am going to stop here and let your imagination run wild. Combine these, change them, add to them… brainstorm with your team, and see what you can come up with!

These ideas will foster synergy between NFT projects, providing new opportunities for collaboration that go beyond individual collection promos and contribute to the growth of BOTH sides.

But you need to TAKE ACTION. If you’re reading or listening to this thinking “But that won’t work for me”, stop the FUD, you’re wrong… tweak it so it will.

For the good of your project and your community, if you need “something”, and you don’t know what it is, try something like the above. Your people will love it and be less likely to sell and leave. Since we don’t see a lot of this type of thing you’ll probably get some great word-of-mouth to-boot!

Want to discuss this or share your ideas? We just added a “games” and “alpha” channel here as well… join the Discord mastermind at: https://discord.gg/hSkF2bvSUx

Do something new. Do something bold. Do something different. Just DO something!

Until next week… if you need help, ask for it. If you don’t, prove it!

Deacon Z

PS —These types of collabs are NOT common in this industry. That’s all the more reason for you to BE THE FIRST. Take advantage.

A Rising Floor is a weekly newsletter and Discord Mastermind created for NFT and ordinal collection owners, staff, and founders, as well as NFT industry gig workers and anyone who wants to promote their NFTs.

It’s a free source of news, NFT marketing help, and a place to communicate with peers for the advancement of the industry.

Follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickcifonie

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