Setting data driven expectations as an NFT artist

For many artists, an ideal outcome would be earning enough from NFT sales to live off of. Many creators feel disillusioned or suffer burnout when they work super hard but don't achieve this goal.

Based on total artwork value and not accounting for royalties, approximately 1300 artists have earned more than $20k from NFT sales (all time) across MakersPlace, Foundation, KnownOrigin, NiftyGateway, AsyncArt and SuperRare (Credit: Richard Chen, Archmage of Dune 🧙)

Note: All Time = since 2018, when the earliest sales occurred

A total of ~16400 creators have minted NFTs on the aforementioned platforms. Therefore, the proportion of artists who have earned $20k+ on these platforms over the past 3 years is in the order of 8%.

This is not meant to discourage but simply to help set healthy expectations. NFTs are an amazing opportunity for artists to capture more value from their digital work, but so far, for most creators, it is a supplementary income stream. Not a total replacement.

Knowing this, be kind to yourself, plan your finances accordingly, and don't get stressed out if you're not hitting certain sales targets.

You are not being left behind. If you are here now, you are early.

The vast majority of artists entering the space are in the same boat as you 🚣‍♀️

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