Online advertising also differs from regular advertising in that glitzy, gimmicky logos or images or even taglines don't cut it. Usually, the people who use the Internet are looking for specific items of information and just tune out the various gimmicks that companies use for their commercials.

This may be because when the net was young and still mostly dial-up, the ads were banner types which were pretty but really heavy. Though broadband has now replaced dial-up, Internet users prefer ads that are light and easy and preferably unobtrusive to their research.

What is the same, whether you advertise online or offline is that people connect with people. In general, they respond better to ads that appeal to their values or feature something they can relate to. They relate better to commercials that feature people.

For example, if your product is about health care, they are more likely to respond to a doctor than to anyone else. If your product is about basketball shoes, they are more likely to respond to a basketball player. Basically, you choose a spokesperson that your prospective buyers will believe or listen to. The only exception to this rule seems to be celebrities. For some reason, people will believe almost anything celebrities say, whether or not they themselves are suited for the product or not.

Now, hiring a celebrity to endorse your product can be a really expensive thing. Most celebrities charge high, after all you are trying to ride on to their popularity. Their manager will make sure that they get the most out of being your commercial model.

Unlike regular advertising, however, there is a way to cash in on the popularity of celebrities without having to pay an exorbitant rate. They are called celebrity fan sites. These are sites about a celebrity that may or may not be owned or maintained by the celebrity who is featured. Usually these sites are run by a fan of the celebrity, hence the term celebrity fan site.

Here is a truth that artists who last long in the industry know. The fans control their world. The acceptance of the public of their image, their composition, their design, their performance determines how much money they will earn.

The fans are also the ones who search the Internet the most about information about their favorite, and some not so favorite celebrities. Celebrities are among the highest searched items on the net. Over 40 million queries about them are made a day.

Thanks to search engines, these celebrity fan sites get quite a bit of exposure. They talk about their favorite singer, actor, model, or athlete. They have interesting information that attracts even more fans of their favorite star.

That's a lot of traffic that businesses can utilize. All the companies need to figure out is which ones of the many celebrities will their target group be likely to visit. This will help you get the necessary exposure that your product needs.

One way to look at it is as sponsorship. A lot of TV shows or segments are sponsored by various companies. They allow these TV shows or segments to stay on the air. In exchange, these shows flash their logos of their sponsors during commercial breaks.

Online advertising has an advantage here. Unlike TV where the sponsor has to wait for their commercial spot, online advertisers have their ads constantly on the page on specified areas. Visitors can see them all the time as they surf the celebrity fan site. Depending on the agreement, some sites will even allow the advertiser to have their ads on various pages of the site, so no matter where they travel on the actual site, they still see your product on display in a prominent area.

Putting an online ad on celebrity fan sites is a lot less expensive than paying for airtime on television. The cost is a lot lower and you get more exposure since you are not limited to just your national public. Keep in mind that the Internet is on a global scale.

These celebrities have fans all across the world. The celebrity fan sites, being on the net, have a global reach. If your business caters to the international market here is another reason why you may want to place your ad on a celebrity fan site.

People like to be in touch with people. They like to know what's going on with their favorites. So of course, they will look up news on their idols and voila! When they visit the sites about their favorite star, there's your ad. Isn't that great exposure?

People often idolize celebrities because they see something in these people that they would someday like to achieve, whether it is a physical, mental, social or maybe just a financial thing. They long to be as beautiful or as smart or as attractive to the opposite sex. Some may just long to be as fit or as skilled an athlete. Whichever aspect it is that they admire in these stars, if your product is something that can help them come close to achieving that goal, they may just click on your ad.

You will need to do some research to find the best celebrity fan site on which to place your ad. You do want to get the most for your money and there are hundreds of celebrity fan sites out there. You are looking for the one that attracts the most number of fans who are also part of your target market.

If you find the celebrity fan site you like, make sure to check out the contact details of the site owner right away. Most of them will have a link on their site marked as "contact us". Once you get in touch with them, you just need to negotiate for a prime spot on their site. Don't wait too long! Other businesses want that spot.