Truly Twisted Marketing

E-retailer Greg Shugar knows ties.

And, he should. This attorney gone "tie guy" has made it his mission to bring bargain basement pricing to a niche that is relatively untouched and unexplored - at least until now. I recently caught up with Greg and had the opportunity to ply him with marketing questions about his e-commerce site TheTieBar.com.

            

Q. Can you give a brief synopsis of why you created TheTieBar.com?

I was a practicing attorney for 8 years. I knew that buying new ties to spice up my work wardrobe would always be $50 a shot. This meant that if I wanted just 5 new ties for each day of the week, it would cost me almost as much as an entire new suit. So I asked myself, "why do ties have to cost so damn much?"

As drinkers of Trader Joe's famous Charles Shaw wine ("Two Buck Chuck"), my wife Gina and I knew that there was a demographic out there that believed that good wine didn't have to cost a lot (a bottle of Two Buck Chuck is $2.99).

So could this be true with silk ties as well? After all, was any neckwear label actually showing off how inexpensive their prices were? It seemed like it was the opposite (just like wine) - the more you spend, the better the product. My wife and I then spent almost a year researching everything - factories, construction of a tie, design, style - you name it, we were looking into it. We researched competition. We did it all, and we found that there was an opening to sell an inexpensive tie - but would anyone buy it?

We soon found out that if you put out a good product, regardless of the industry, people will buy it. I invite you to read our testimonials and media coverage (found on our website) to find out just how passionate our customers are about finding an inexpensive necktie.

Q. What's been your experience with eCommerce so far?

Online shoppers are demanding, and they have a very short attention span. If the color isn't exactly what they wanted, they'll let you know. If you don't impress them quickly with your website, they'll leave. With no salespeople, no music in your store, and no good smell permeating in the room, you really have to make a good first impression quickly.

Q. In doing business online it's always an issue of how to actually get not only traffic to your site but targeted traffic that converts. How have you accomplished this?

Our conversion rates on pay-per-click advertising has been very successful. It's important to have the right ad that lets people know where they're about to go to. We make it clear - ties are $15 and we have designs of stripes, paisleys, etc. So if you're looking for a $125 Robert Talbott tie or looking for a SpongeBob tie, we won't have it. Of course, it isn't full-proof, but it's the best we can do.

For organic search results, we are still working on coming up on the higher pages for the more commonly searched terms. But I have found that organic search clickers are more likely to be browsing than shopping.

Q. Are there any marketing strategies that work really well for you?

Our entire business premise is our best marketing strategy - that you can buy a great tie at a low price. Most of our customers hear of us through word of mouth. They hear that we're selling a high quality tie that should retail for $49.99 for just $15.00. They love the idea. They actually email us and call us just to tell us how happy they are to find a place to buy inexpensive but stylish, high-quality ties.

Likewise, each piece of press that we get draws great business to us. Again, it's new people hearing about our business premise, and apparently, they are relieved to find something like us.

Q. Was it your plan from the beginning to capitalize on such a niche category or did you just sort of fall into it?

As I stated before, we knew this niche was open. And it was open for a reason - no one wants to buy a 'cheap' tie. And for the most part, this is true. But when you sell them a luxurious tie at an inexpensive price, then you find your market. Still, I have heard from many people that "your ties can't possibly be nice if they're only $15." To those people, I say, "go shop elsewhere, you bore me."

Q. What makes your site different from other sites that sell similar items?

We worked hard to create personality and character for our website. With respect to the website, nothing was done by accident. We spent days (and lots of money) coming up with the perfect design and theme. The presentation is very professional, and the searching methods are user-friendly.

Most importantly, we listen to our customers. We receive lots of feedback on our website, and when it sounds right, we use it. We also offer users a chance to place each tie up against eight different shirt backgrounds, giving us the same advantage that brick and mortar stores have. We receive lots of positive feedback about this feature. You can take a look at it here.

Q. What are your plans for TheTieBar.com in 2007? (For example, do you hope to grow it into a mega site, add an online community, make a multi-million dollar company, etc.)

We have no big plans. We want to just keep growing the customer base, keep making stylish designs, and continue to grow our brand. Our expansion into pocket squares, cufflinks and shirts has been great, so we're always thinking of new products to add as well. But for now, we're just concentrating on what we have in front of us.