Kalimba Magic NEWS

Message from Mark
Secrets of Success: How to Make Your Dream Come True

Mark Holdaway at Tohono Chul Park. Photo: Russ Bohnhoff

When I started Kalimba Magic back in 2005, you couldn't even find me via Google without looking through over 100 pages of search results. Today, Kalimba Magic is one of the top driving forces in the growing kalimba movement. How did we go from nowhere to where we are today? Of course, these aren't secrets - I'll share these tips that may help you with your business, or with anything else you might like to accomplish.

Work hard. My son pointed out something he learned in his economics class: most businesses that fail do so because the owner was not willing to work hard enough to see the business through to success. He also pointed out that most businesses take about three years to turn a profit. Scary!

Do something you love. If you are going to work hard, you had better be working on something you love, or it will be a drag. There was a book written about 30 years ago - "Do what you love, the money will follow." That isn't always true, but it sure helps to love what you are doing when you are staying up till midnight or doing more than you thought was humanly possible.

Find your niche. We are each unique human beings, and part of our life path and education should be about discovering who we are and what unique gifts we have to offer. Many of us never find that out. Some of us die trying. And some of us learn as if given a very special gift. You don't need to have a religous view that God made you for a special reason, but certainly having a sense of destiny helps. There are so many things going on in the world, and so many people, but do have faith that there is a place for you and your unique blend of talents and abilities. Even if you pick something to do that has been done a thousand times - a pool cleaning service - a grocery store - find ways that you can bring your uniqueness to that job or business.

Find the right tool for the job. In my case, my tool was software -and it found me. Originally, I was making kalimba tablature "by hand," then I graduated to using a graphics program called JFIG (which I still use to make tuning diagrams and other illustrations). But less than a year into the Kalimba Magic business, someone named Sharon Eaton bought the Treble Fundamentals book, and a month later sent me an email. Her husband, guided by her musical knowledge, had created a wonderful computer program that implemented the kalimba tablature in a powerful and flexible manner. This program was extensible to any type or tuning of kalimba, and it did almost everything I could want. And so, KTabS was born. This was like a gift from God - it just fell into my hands. The fact that Sharon and Randy Eaton are evangelical Christians underscored the strange timing of this gift for me. (By the way, if you want to see the full power of KTabS as a software tool, I invite you to check out the KTabS Instructional Video.)

Seek concrete accomplishments. I've been a musician almost all my life, and most of that time, I was just wandering in the wilderness having fun. That's cool, but unless you are Jerry Garcia, that probably won't pay the bills. On the other hand, when I write an instructional book, or make a CD, those are all things that have value in that other people can use them to learn to play the kalimba or to experience peace while listening to the music.

Celebrate when you accomplish something! I remember being in college, working as hard as I could through the end of the semester, and when I was finally done with my last final exam in late December, jumping up and down, "I DID it! And I DID IT well!" That is exactly the feeling I get when I finish a recording or an instructional download.

Plan, but don't worry when you miss the mark. After I wrote my first kalimba book, I thought about the different books I could make: Christmas, Beatles, Folk Music, African Music... I came up with a list of about 25 books. I was frustrated that I couldn't just make the books come into being. But that was probably good; with each new book, I got better. I learned more about design. I became a better player. I learned about what people wanted. Now, I create about two books a year, and while that seems slow to me, it is probably a good pace. I don't mind pouring myself into the books - they are all products of love and devotion. But they are also investments. Some of them will not be around in 10 years. Others will be generating a modest amount of income for me in 10 years even though I don't do anything to keep them updated. And all of them help to build my credibility and help sell kalimbas. So, they are all part of a bigger plan.

Business plan? I have had a few dozen people tell me that I need to have a business plan. It's true, without a business plan, I can't get the bank to lend me money, but in this business climate, I don't think the bank would have lent me money anyway! I have found that the things you need to know to make a business plan--What will be the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the South African Rand in 6 months? How many people are going to buy THIS kalimba instead of THAT kalimba? Which book is going to sell?--these are all fluctuating and unknowable things. So even if I were to make a detailed business plan, the reality of the business would come out very different.

That said, I have had a very crude business plan all along - "Write books that really show people how to play kalimba, inspire people with my kalimba music, give away joy, and sell kalimbas." I have known all along that this very rough business plan will result in higher sales of other kalimbas as well, including such rivals as the Mid-East-Mfg kalimbas. But so be it!

Get a good website. The first Kalimba Magic website was put together by me and my son Tim Holdaway. After a year, I began to realize that I needed to work with someone with more experience, someone with a good design sense, someone with a better command of the English language than I had, someone who could edit my ideas and make them more clear to the reader, and someone who could keep me from sticking my foot in my mouth when I brought up touchy subjects such as race relations. Susan Taunton took my dream, gave it shape and structure, and made a design that included room to grow. We add to the website daily with Tips, Newsletters, etc. And over time, I have realized that every cent spent on the website has been well worth it.

It's not about you. Especially when you are a musician, you expect the show to be about you. But I quickly realized that Kalimba Magic is not about me. It is about inspiring people, about helping people dream about what they could do, and helping them do it. It isn't about taking, it is about giving. Most businesses are about giving - giving good customer service, giving good advice, giving good value. In a business, one has to make money in order to keep the business alive. If I don't get paid, I cannot keep giving. But Kalimba Magic is mainly about giving something of value to the world, and to the extent that the world finds value in what I give, the world pays me. Each payment is a vote of confidence, permitting me to continue what I am doing. But many people derive value from Kalimba Magic without paying me any money. That is fine, as a main part of my goal with Kalimba Magic is to help make the world a more beautiful and wondrous place.

Thank you, world, and thank you, kalimba players, for enabling me to continue on the most fantastic journey of my life! It has been a wondeful five and a half years, and I am looking forward to about 20 more of them before I retire and turn over Kalimba Magic to someone else who can drive this little tornado around the world.

—Mark Holdaway, founder of Kalimba Magic