What is this for?

It’s for you—someone who creates work to tell stories, to educate and empower, to share a point of view. Whether it’s through essays, illustrations, or photographs, your work is your livelihood.

In 2018, we launched Season 1 of Own Your Content with 9 creative leaders that have been owning their content and building their platform for over a decade. Why were they invested in this? How did it expand their life and career?

With more and more work being published on the web to reach a wider audience, we begin to surrender our creative work to terms and conditions that are largely ignored. If Instagram were deleted tomorrow, what would you do? If Medium disappeared, where would your articles go? How would people find you?

Owning your content is not about hoarding or being secretive; it’s about ensuring that the work you produce is respected, protected, and rightfully yours. Yes, share your work on various platforms and connect with other people, but when cultivating and nurturing the fruits of your labor, do it in your own garden, not someone else’s. If the most fruitful creative careers are focused on the long-haul, a journey as some would call it, then we must think in terms of chess, not checkers.

Why is this important? Why now?

We’re experiencing a slow yet steady shift of the internet. From new technologies to agreements, the platforms that we currently rely on may not be around forever.

Creating content on a platform like WordPress.com gives you full autonomy and ownership of your work. It’s your digital presence, your marking on the online world.

We’re continuing this series to keep learning from some of the web’s most prolific digital and creative innovators. They are professionals whose careers have thrived on owning their content long-term and not solely relying on social media to house their best work. From the philosophical to the practical, we’re providing you toolkits, interviews, and wisdom so that you can build your own home on the internet.

Consider this a compass to help you navigate the future of the internet and, ultimately, the future of work.

WordPress.com is providing a 10% discount for morning people who want to start owning their content. Learn More.