I think a lot of current NFT projects will fizzle out as people start to realize what utility really means. The good news is that the NFT market is evolving and I'm starting to see projects with long-term potential.
After two years of experimenting with NFTs and realizing how they should be implemented, I decided to launch one for theo & amelia.
I've invested in overly hyped up projects, rug pulls, NFTs with no utility, fake Discord activity just to seem like a cool project and everything in between. There will be none of that with the theo & amelia NFT.
My goals are to provide instant and future utility in the real world and metaverse, build a community of people passionate about scents, and to implement DAO features so our community has a say in how theo & amelia grows.
theo & amelia NFT Highlights
- 1,000 identical NFTs for the original mint.
- $500 cost (form of payment TBD)
- Each original holder receives a $500 credit for theo & amelia products. NFTs bought on the secondary market will not receive a credit.
- NFT holders receive a 30% discount on all purchases after the $500 credit is spent. NFTs purchased on the secondary market will receive a 30% discount.
- Exclusive access to bi-monthly test box for $30/box.
- Exclusive access to governance features (6+ months away)
- Exclusive products only for NFT holders. To start, we have two colognes only available to NFT holders. The amount of products will grow as test boxes are shipped out.
- Monthly Sandbox asset drops.
- 10% of NFT sales will go towards an innovation fund that the community will decide how to use.
The floor price is our last priority
I know it's exciting to buy an NFT and see the floor price 10x in a week. I don't see that happening with the theo & amelia NFT and I'm okay with that.
After reading this entire post, you'll know if it's a project you want to be involved with. I just want to be upfront from the very beginning and be clear that the floor price is the last thing on my mind. Instead, I will be focusing on the following areas.
Community
The main reason to be involved with theo & amelia is that we’re building a community of people around the world who share an interest in scents and the metaverse. Not only does each NFT holder receive immediate value from their purchase, but they'll have a voice within the company and have access to exclusive products.
We want to start simple so the first example of community input will be a bi-monthly test box that includes three samples of potential new products. NFT holders will have access to a private Discord channel that allows the community to vote on whether we produce the product, what name to call it, label design and other factors that go into bringing a product to market. We want these products to truly feel like they were created by the community so we encourage your feedback and suggestions on the Discord channel.
Metaverse Experiences & Sandbox Drops
We know that the metaverse is going to change the way we live, which is why we've been staying on top of all the latest developments for the past year. We’re confident that our brand will grow in the metaverse and we plan to provide additional utility for our NFT holders as the technology progresses.
We already started building in the metaverse and plan to use some of the NFT revenue to expand the development team. Our first experience, Find Amelia, won a top 10 award in a Game Jam and will be published on The Sandbox. We’re currently working on additional experiences that will add value to our NFT holders.
Since we want to provide immediate utility for our NFT in the real world and metaverse, we're going to start with random Sandbox NFT drops (at least once a month). Avatars will be the first couple of drops, but we'll welcome feedback from the community for future drops. These NFTs can be used in The Sandbox or you can sell them on secondary markets when the marketplace becomes open to everyone. The Sandbox team is saying that it will happen this year so we're hoping they stick to that delivery.
We also own a Shopping.io NFT, which allows us to have a shop in their Sandbox mall (currently under development). As a community, we can vote to purchase more Shopping.io NFTs in order to have a bigger presence in their mall.
Roadmap (3 months)
Our goal is to develop the foundation for the remainder of the year within three months of launching the NFT. Since there aren’t many examples of companies doing what we have planned, we expect changes, which is why we don’t have a full one year roadmap. That’s also why we encourage the community to be active on our Discord channel for NFT holders. After the first three months, we’ll be able to deliver a more detailed roadmap. Our current plan:
- Finish NFT design.
- Mint day (TBD).
- Send $500 credit to NFT holders so they can redeem as soon as they'd like.
- Private channel on Discord for NFT holders to discuss updates and suggestions throughout the process.
- Sandbox asset drop
- First test scent box will ship out two months after NFT sale. This will give us enough time to plan production and logistics.
- PR + Marketing campaigns ramp up.
- Purchase more land in Decentraland and The Sandbox while growing our development team.
How does the $500 credit work?
I really wanted to provide instant utility for NFT holders and I believe a store credit is the easiest way of doing that. It's my way of proving that I'm serious about building something great with the OG NFT holders.
After mint date, we'll share a form on our Discord channel. With that information, we'll create customer accounts and send a $500 gift card to each NFT holder. Once that credit is fully used, we'll provide a unique promo code for 30% off your future orders.
Shopify plans on integrating with MetaMask (hopefully this year), which will make the process a lot easier in the future, but for now this is our best option.
The credit only applies for the original NFT holder. This is because people would be able to claim the $500 credit and sell the NFT for below the mint price. If someone is able to buy the NFT for under $500 and still receive the credit, our business would take a pretty big hit and that would effect the rest of the NFT holders. However, people who purchase an NFT on the secondary market, like OpenSea, will still be able to receive 40% off of their orders and have all the same exclusive access as the original owners.
The only benefit lost to secondary owners is the original $500 credit.
What is the bi-monthly test box?
After the NFT mint date, we'll need about a week to see how many holders we have and what the best option is for logistics. If Shopify was integrated with MetaMask now, this would be pretty easy, but we're still waiting for that feature so we'll have to do a lot of the work manually. We'll keep the community informed throughout the entire process, but we're estimating that it will be a couple of weeks before we add a subscription product on our website that will only be available for NFT holders.
The box will include a variety of scents and eventually, different products. We plan on including three full size test scents in our first box and will discuss what kind of products the community wants to see on the Discord channel. Once NFT holders receive the box, we'll discuss production and design options on Discord.
We plan on getting creative with the test box and encourage suggestions on our Discord channel. For example, one month could be an exclusive bottle of the community's favorite scent that is only produced for that box. Once those boxes are shipped out, it will never be produced again.
The cost of the test box will be $30 each, but will have a minimum of $75 in value. Shipping will be free in the United States and $10 for international orders.
I know how important community is, which is the biggest reason we're launching the NFT. The test box is just one way of creating a stronger community while having fun. The idea of creating unique products and only sharing them with the community is super exciting to me. If you share the same excitement, our NFT is for you.
Exclusive products
We currently have two products in production that will be exclusive to NFT holders.
- Iceland cologne - currently available to people who find Amelia in our Sandbox game, but this will be taken away after mint date.
- Socorro cologne - named after a recent diving trip to Socorro island, this is by far one of my favorite colognes and is what I currently wear.
Both colognes will be available to purchase for NFT holders after the mint date.
Exclusive products are one of the biggest reasons to hold the NFT so we plan to invest a lot of resources into making this something our holders appreciate.
We also know that people would like to see our scents in different applications and we plan to offer those to our NFT holders. One example is candles.
