The book was written for you by a great individual who expressed urgency in writing this book. I'm Terri Marie, co-author of Dottie's life story. Dottie was a dear friend of mine and a wonderful mentor. I helped her write the book, but it is her energy that lights every page. Let me tell you what happened.

The Dream

It was the morning of Valentine's Day, February 14th 2007. I had been working day and night to get the book finished as quickly as possible. We knew we didn't have much time. Every one was helping, from the book designers to John Harricharan of New World Publishing, so that Dottie could hold this book in her hands.

Delay after delay occurred. For some reason it seemed no matter what we did, no matter how hard we tried, something else would come up. The last thing we needed to do was to have the foreword written, so I asked Jack Canfield to write the foreword. He loved Dottie and agreed, even though he was busy preparing for a visit on Oprah. Dottie admired Jack and was delighted with the foreword he sent us. Now the book was ready and I could finally go see Dottie again.

The night before I was to leave to see Dottie, I had a dream that Dottie had died. Pushing the dream out of my mind, I got ready to make the long drive to Dottie's Ranch. The phone rang. It was Dottie's grandson, Michael. When I asked him how he was, he said, "Not so good. Dottie just passed away."

I was stunned. The very day I was to see her! Devastated to get the call, I also knew that Dottie was ready to leave. She knew the book was completed. She had delivered her message. Her work was done.

But there's more to the story...

Let's go back to the first time I met the great Dottie Walters

Who was this Dottie Walters that Jack Nichols, the head of one of the largest Southern California Speaker's Bureaus, had always talked about? He'd been mentioning her for quite some time now, "You need to meet Dottie," he'd tell me.

I'd been putting Jack off a bit. Since I'd never heard of Dottie, how important could she be? I figured she was just some elusive person Jack knew. Little did I know! If I had joined NSA, (National Speakers Association) I certainly would've heard of Dottie's great fame but I had not done that yet.

"She'll probably tell you about her bear," Jack told me as he drove us up to "the Ranch" for my first meeting with Dottie Walters. The bear would come down the mountain to climb her avocado tree and throw down the avocadoes. (And yes she did tell me!)

Jack had been mentioning this legendary woman to me for over a year before he said, "I think you're ready. Ready to go to the ranch, Dottie's home."

The day I finally went to the ranch with Jack, I had no idea just how famous she was.

She was a founding member of NSA and "The" Founder of NSA Greater LA Area.

Her Speaker's Bureau represented 24,000 speakers

She was a best-selling author -- several times

She wrote the First Book EVER on Selling for Women!

I knew one thing when I first met Dottie.
I liked her immediately.

I could hear Jack in the other room talking to Dottie while I waited by her alcove adorned with pictures of her great "Friend of the Mind," Ben Franklin. Dottie came out and spoke so warmly to me. We began a deep friendship that lasted until her death and, I believe, extends beyond it. There was an immediate connection between us. I knew from that moment, my life had completely changed.

Who was Dottie Walters?

One of the world's premiere sales and motivational speakers
Author of 5 books, including the bestselling "Speak & Grow Rich"
The publisher of the premiere magazine for the Speaking World: "Sharing Ideas".
Founder of the Professional Association for Speakers Bureaus and the International Association of Speakers Bureaus
Founding Member of the National Speakers Association, and founder of the Los Angeles Chapter NSA
A business-owner, turning a tiny advertising business in a rural community into a company with 4 offices, 285 employees, and 4,000 continuous contract accounts

The Lessons at the Ranch

The Ranch proved a wonderful place for Dottie Walters to pass along her life lessons and teachings. Dottie must've known she didn't have much time as she related story after story, lesson after lesson. It's almost as if we had an unspoken contract with each other to do this. Her mission was to teach. Mine was to write and remember as much as I could from our time together. Whether it was outside in the beautiful grounds of "the ranch," inside by her famous soda fountain, or on our frequent calls, Dottie would pass along information that she seemed compelled to tell me. I could see how important it was to her to get this message out to you.

"When we become masters of ourselves,
it then follows that we will become leaders of others."
--Dottie Walters

One day I mentioned to Dottie an idea that had been running around in my mind. Holding my breath, I asked her if she would be willing to do a series of interviews with me. "Of course," she said smiling that charming smile of hers. Dottie taught me how much fun it could be to work together on a big project. We worked on it for over a year.

After one of the interviews while we were having lunch, Dottie brought up the idea of a book. At first, it was just going to be a transcript of the interviews, but as I worked on it, I knew the book had to be written in story form. That delighted her. We spent hours going over her albums of her life for the photos we'd use in the book. There was the precious one of her and her mother Lil, and photos that showed the young and extremely beautiful Dottie as she rose to greater and greater success.

"She has that special talent of putting her thoughts into words that go out and move people."
-- Earl Nightingale, Nightingale-Conant Audio Programs

When Dottie Walters wrote her first book - the instant bestseller, "Never Underestimate the Selling Power of a Woman," she wanted to help women create lives of abundance in every area.

"The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story" is Dottie's last book. It is filled with a lifetime of advice that works. Advice that has changed countless lives. People you have heard about and many under the radar have used her principles to reach success. Principles such as:

• How surrounding yourself with double "P" people will increase your success (Page 31)
• How to adapt and benefit from a special look (Page 32)
• The answer to "What women really want? (Page 54)
• Where the biggest hiding place for opportunities (Page 83)
• How to negotiate and raise the value of a transaction (Page 36)
• How to find the opportunity in apparent "lack" (Page 15)
• How to use visualization (Page 133)
• How to put yourself in places of opportunity (Page 84)
• What question will create more opportunity and more success for you (Page 86)
• What you can ask yourself before any sales to increase your success (Page 52)
• What to do with your voice before a sale (Page 53)
• Dottie's #1 rule of selling to women (Page 53)
• How to look at a face to find out what it is they want (Page 55)

Dottie Walter's voice was magical. It has success in it. No wonder Napoleon Hill, student of Andrew Carnegie, and famous author of "Think and Grow Rich" said to Dottie,

"Dorothy, How does it feel to be a girl who has just blown to the world a blast of inspirational stardust?"

--Napoleon Hill

Many times it's very difficult to deal with criticism, however, this woman could handle it brilliantly and diffuse it. Dottie Walters will teach you how to effectively handle a criticism with grace as she did many times.

Selling effectively could be difficult but, Dottie gives many examples of her actual sales conversations that can be adapted to your product or services.

Dottie also shares:

How to avoid taboos for speakers (Page 65)
The first thing a speaker should do (Page 66)
How to diffuse criticism (Page 124)
How to find the lessons in the criticism(Page 124)
How to get solutions to come to you (Page 107)
What you can do that will increase opportunity (Page 22)
What question to ask yourself to find where your talent is (Page 83)
How and when to ask for help (Page 86)
What Dottie learned from famous people throughout time (Page 74)
What was the incredible advice Bruce Barton gave her? (Page 73)
How to find opportunity when you have two opposing sides (Page 94)

And that's not all. Dottie Walters shares 14 of her best Life Lessons. The first time they were ever put into a book.

Lessons with stories about how you can use some of the traits that have served her amazingly well.

"If ever there was a woman born to seek solutions, it was Dottie Walters" Jack Canfield From the Foreword by Jack Canfield to "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story" "Authors Dottie Walters and Terri Marie have written a book to show you the magnificent gem you have when you use the power of your mind. They deliver hefty servings of successful strategies including how Dottie uses the power of visualization. If ever there was a woman born to seek solutions, it was Dottie Walters. One of the great woman speakers of our era, Dottie puts the golden touch of success on the lives she touches, She will do that for you in "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story." - Jack Canfield, Co-Author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul."

"..The smartest and most giving woman I've ever met." Joe Vitale "Dottie was the smartest and most giving woman I've ever met. She encouraged me to be a writer and a speaker, and wrote the riveting foreword to my book, "The Seven Lost Secrets of Success". I miss her." - Joe Vitale, author of "The Key" and star of "The Secret" www.mrfire.com

"...a blast of inspirational stardust." "Dorothy. How does it feel to be a girl who has just blown to the world a blast of inspirational stardust?" - Napoleon Hill, Author of "Think and Grow Rich" "...words that go out and move people" "(Dottie Walters) has that special talent of putting her thoughts into words that go out and move people." -- Earl Nightingale, Nightingale-Conant Audio Programs

"A 'MUST' read." Meeting Dottie Walters and Terri Marie was not only a fantastic experience but a great inspiration as well. I can now prolong and benefit from that experience by reading and rereading "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story." A "MUST"read. John Harricharan of New World Publishing and best selling author of, "When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat," "The PowerPause," and other books

Read what author and intuitive psychologist, Susan Barbara Apollon, has to say about Dottie's last book: "A MUST READ!" "If you are one of so many who are afraid of public speaking and definitely in need of some helpful wisdom and tried and true recommendations that work, or if you are looking for guidance regarding what to do and what not to do in order to achieve business success, then RUN, don't walk to purchase "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story." "Ths Solution is at Hand" is a MUST-READ for everyone seeking tips, secrets, and lessons." Learn from one of the century's greatest and most legendary speakers, Dottie Walters, a brilliant natural-born saleswoman. She knew how to sell anybody anything and she always did this with integrity, warmth, love and ecellence. Everyone loved her. In "The Solution is at Hand" you're going to learn the ropes of becoming successful in the art of connecting with the public. With Terri Marie guiding you through Dottie's life (she did this in such a warm, engaging, intimate way) you will be entertained while receiving information that will forever change the course of your speaking profession and your professioanl life. This is such an enjoyable experience that you will find yourself wanting to come back for more. A definite read and re-read book!" - Susan Apollon, Author of "Touched by the Extraordinary" "Superb Literary Work!" "Dottie was truly an icon in the speaking world - one of a kind. Thanks for sharing her secrets in this superb literary work." - Irwin Zucker, President, Emeritus, Book Publicists of Southern California. Presdient, Promotion in Motion

"...didn't put it down until I got to the end" "I wanted to take a minute and tell you how much I enjoyed reading The Dottie Walters Story. I started reading and didn't put it down until I got to the end -- it is the perfect book to recommend it to my newsletter readers. How fortunate you are to have known such an amazing woman and how fortunate she was to have known you! I'm convinced that you were the "solution" to her last wish in this lifetime -- and you did an incredible job! Thanks so much for a wonderfully written and truly inspiring story." Author and poet, Heather O'Hara of "A Touch of Grace"

"...She helped countless people tap into their greatest potential" "Dottie Walters was a legend in the personal development industry. She helped countless people tap into their greatest potential through her writing and speaking. Through this wonderfully inspiring book, "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story" you can forever keep nearby the wisdom that Dottie shared with the world." Speaker, Writer and Coach, Josh Hinds, www.GetMotivation.com

"...this remarkable woman who so embodies the American young, enterprising soul being." It was a delight for me to read your book on Dottie Walters. In a warm and lively way, you describe this remarkable woman who so embodies the American young, enterprising soul being. This is what I experienced strongly in America: the young energy of the US. Author, Constance Eykman, "Paradise, A Heartbeat Away" "Dottie's helped me more than anyone else." Nan Pratt, who books celebrities like Rudy Giuliani, said that so many people have told her, "Dottie's helped me more than anyone else." "The impact of this unique book inspirational book transcends any that I have read for a long time." Nan Pratt, owner of Standing Ovations Bureau

"'The Solution is at Hand' is one of the top three books every speaker should have." Dottie wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri Marie. It is called "The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story." The impact of this unique book inspirational book transcends any that I have read for a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie's Life Lessons. And, to think that she did not see the final and finished copy of the book or hear the CD that accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie. I read the complete book on the plane to France in March and was so moved by it that I had all the French Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing happened. But there, several people read it in a day or so, before I left Nigeria to return to the US. They too, were inspired and touched. What a woman Dottie was! I am so humbled and honored to be appointed as one of her Ambassadors. We need to keep her spirit and message alive as nuggets of her greatness. Dottie's voice on the accompanying CD reveals her kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there discussing such deep lessons. I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone special in your life. You will never regret it." Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Owner of Global Education, Inc.

Picture Yourself Being Mentored By This Legendary Woman

She smiles the kind of smile that makes you instantly at ease. You relax in her cozy family room as she gives you a lifetime of advice that will transform your life, if you use it. She knows you will. That's why Dottie Walters is taking the time to give it to you.

Idea after idea pours from her mind as you describe your life situation and challenges. She clearly sees possibilities for you and suggests solutions to you that seem so absolutely right that you know they are going to work for you and they do! That is exactly what Dottie did for countless extraordinarily succesful people. You leave your session with Dottie feeling so very hopefully and so very grateful for the solutions she found for you that were breathtakingly close - right at hand.

Dottie had that rare gift that transforms ordinary people
into Success Magnets.