On a lighter note.

In business, one can never escape from two issues: Customer Service problems, and neckties.

Now I've talked about customer service before, so I'll take a crack at ties today.

First off, how to do I tie it? Easy, let this German dude show you all the knots you'll ever need, plus some you'll never figure out.

Now let's talk about style. Everyone knows about the Power Tie, and the impact that had on 80's fashion. Everyone, that is, who cares about ties. If you haven't spent an afternoon reading up on the vaguery's of mens accessory fashions, here's the options for ties:

• The power tie. This will be striped diagonally, and usually a mix of bold colors. The Brit's refer to this as an Old School Tie, because each of the private(and exclusive) boarding schools in England have their own colors and style tie.
• Monochrome(the Regis look). Made popular by Regis Philbin on Who Wants to be Millionaire, this pairs a tie of the exact same color as the shirt its worn with. It's getting to be a bit passe, because unless you're extremely careful, your shirt will fade with washing/dry cleaning, while your tie won't. And nothing shouts "I'm lazy about my appearance" as a mismatched monochrome look.
• Novelty. What could set a better precedent for a business relationship than a tie covered in little tiny guitars? Or maybe it's an interweaving of the Corona logo with little bottles? Or best yet, an LED flashing pair of lips. Do Not Ever Wear These Ties!
  
  
• Plaid, or tartan. My personal favorite necktie patterns is based on the Scottish Clan Tartan. Initially, person would wear a necktie of the same pattern as their kilt(this would be the paleoRegis look), but with time many patterns and color schemes have become available. Especially thanks to Burberry and other high cost clothiers, brand tartans are just as popular and populous as authentic Tartan patterns.
  

Here are a few examples of classic, and updated tartan patterns.