Good for you!!! A great reminder that we need to stand up for what we KNOW we are worth instead of assuming that everyone else knows our worth. They are trying to save a buck and if we let them, then that is what we are worth. But if we stand up and say NO, then we are saying, we are worth more.

Great reminder!!

Cudos for standing your ground. I can only hope to be in that situation and I'd handle it the same way. Don't sell your hard work short, they obviously don't understand or appreciate the value of your brand or they're just hoping your not on your A game. Keep your ground, you rock!

I'm glad you stood your ground!

I've had numerous advertisers reach out over the past 18 months offering me nominal rates for advertising space on my blog. Most have been companies I've never heard of, but I've also heard from ad agencies representing large consumer brand advertisers.

Even in those instances whereas I have been offered $5 CPMs (thru the ad agencies), at the end of the day I've made the decision that the these deals simply aren't worth the inventory on my blog. Unless you're the size of a blog such as the Huffington Post, even a $5 CPM backs out to pocket change.

There will hopefully become a point in time whereas advertisers will come to the plate with advertising opportunities that are truly a win-win scenarios. We're clearly not quite there.

I do not do much in the way of advertising on my site by personal choice. However, I am a strong supporter of blogs (and their authors) being given the same consideration and professional respect as other advertising mediums. Yes, what you are selling is your readership, your contacts, your influence...which is what magazines, newspapers, television, etc. is selling. I'm getting tired of the assumption that everyone should blog for free or you are a sell-out. There is nothing wrong with charging for what you are worth. There is nothing selfish about it. It's self-respect, really.

Yes, I would continue to blog for free, even if I never earned a penny from my site. I am more concerned with my content than promotion (and know I should truly spend a little more time on promotion, but I get more enjoyment from just writing). That said, I have accepted some compensated ads...just a few, and for not much (because my readership, google page rank, etc. is lower than others, and I want to be fair, but, yes, I do still take some compensation), and all that support the theme of my blog...and I don't feel badly about it one bit.

Thank goodness your setting the bar high. You have to.

I decided a while ago to not run ads on my site, so I'm not a marketing genius. That said, your response was perfect. You get lots and lots of eyeballs here.

Besides...don't all the best advertisers use dynamic code? ;)

Roni, way to hold your ground! I couldn't agree with you (and your stance) more.

You don't pay millions of dollars for a super bowl ad because it takes the network longer to queue it up, you pay for the eyeballs. Plain and simple.

I completely agree! and i love your response to them, I probably would have just deleted it without giving them SOLID reasoning behind my ad prices.