The Books
muddled, meager & messy
Marketing masterclass for entrepreneurs & small business
15th Anniversary Edition, Revised & Updated
by Wendy Beth Moore
Marketing doesn’t fail because you’re bad at it.
It fails because it’s muddled, meager, and messy. And way too noisy.
Small business marketing is full of noise, hype, shortcuts, and well-meaning mistakes. After 40 years in marketing communications—and 15 years since this book first appeared—Wendy Beth Moore has seen the same problems derail businesses again and again.
In this fully updated 15th Anniversary Edition, muddled, meager & messy cuts through the confusion with clarity, honesty, and hard-won experience. There’s no guru-speak here. No “just go viral” nonsense. Just practical guidance on how marketing actually works when budgets are tight, decisions are emotional, and humans are anything but rational.
You’ll learn how to:
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Spot the hidden “gremlins” sabotaging your marketing
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Stop making your business about you—and start making it about your customer
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Understand how people really make decisions (hint: it’s not logically)
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Use behavioural economics ethically to influence action
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Navigate digital, AI, and change without chasing every shiny object
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Build a brand that’s consistent, credible, and sustainable
Written in a candid, conversational style, muddled, meager & messy is equal parts reality check and practical playbook for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want marketing that actually works.
Now available in print, e-book and audiobook
Print version 131 pages
SRP $22.99 CAD, $15.99 USD
Find the book on your favourite online book retailer or click a link below to purchase or leave a review:
"Entrepreneurs will appreciate Moore’s encouraging tone, and she includes significant updates to this edition—including a brief chapter devoted to the use of AI to boost sales and build marketing campaigns—that help readers embrace a range of contemporary tools at their disposal. The advice she includes applies to any type of business owner . . . A sprinkling of helpful graphics keeps the content user-friendly (including her “I’m going to get serious now” checklist to track incremental change), and Moore’s parting exhortation to stay connected to customers and prioritize creativity rings true." BookLife
"If you’re searching for a practical guide that cuts through marketing jargon and delivers clear, actionable insights, look no further than Wendy Beth Moore’s muddled, meager & messy: Marketing masterclass for entrepreneurs & small business. Throughout the book, Moore values practicality above all else, and the result is a refreshingly no-nonsense guide to marketing. This is a marketing book for business owners tired of being marketed to. If you gravitated toward the advice of Eric Ries’s The Lean Startup and Blake Masters and Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, count Moore as your newest companion on your journey to entrepreneurial success. Muddled, meager & messy is an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs seeking marketing wisdom rooted in experience rather than hype. Less guru, more guide, Moore offers the kind of advice business owners can put to work immediately." CANREADS Book Review
5-star Reader Reviews
This is one of the most useful marketing books I’ve read in a long time. Highly recommended for small-business owners, consultants, nonprofits, technical founders, and honestly anyone trying to communicate well in a noisy world. Paul M.
A breath of fresh air. Whether you’re just starting out and trying to figure out what your brand even is, or you’ve been at this for a while and just feel like your strategy has gone stale, this book hits the spot. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to turn their marketing from a "to do list nightmare" into an actual growth engine. Aliza V.
This book is a great marketing reference. I loved how its target audience is small business. If you own a small business, this would be priceless resource. Angela H.
I recently started a small business, and thought I knew exactly how to market it. Wow, was I wrong! Even though I had some background in sales and marketing, I floundered. There are so many marketing experts out there, ready to hand you advice (for a fee), that I didn't know who to listen to. This book by Wendy Beth Moore cuts through the noise! Her approach is straightforward, no nonsense. No pretty graphics or flowing fonts to get in the way of her message, like so many of the online self-proclaimed gurus. It's an invaluable resource that I'll turn to again and again. Katherine A
Requests for interview, speaking or to leave a review of the books
Get in touch with Wendy Beth Moore, author & revenue growth strategist, to schedule an interview, book her as a speaker, or to leave a book review.