THE SECRET
SERVICE
MARKETER

Some people find their purpose. Mine found me.

I didn't set out to write books or spend the better part of my career obsessing over small service businesses.

I set out to build my own business... and nearly broke myself trying.

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MY STORY

In 2007, I left a stable job with a glass ceiling, painted a spare bedroom, and declared myself the owner of a marketing and web design business. I had a degree, a business plan, a designer friend, and approximately zero idea what I was walking into.

What followed was seven years of relentless pressure – undercharging, overdelivering, taking on the wrong clients for the wrong reasons, and presenting a composed exterior while quietly falling apart.

It wasn't pretty. But it was formative.

Because somewhere, in the middle of all the dirt and distress, a diamond was formed. One that I spent the next few years polishing – refining an approach to marketing for small service businesses that actually worked. Not theory from a textbook or boardroom; a methodology that was real-world tested, on real  service businesses.

The results were undeniable: leads flowing in, week after week, year after year. Clients who could finally choose their customers, rather than chasing them.

Eventually, I arrived at a crossroads: grow a bigger digital agency, or somehow share the formula with those who needed it most.

I chose the latter. Even if it meant getting a job to keep the lights on... which it did.

Ten+ years and three book babies later, it remains the most illuminating decision of my life.

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THE PLOT TWIST

More recently though, I hit a wall.

With the books written and published, I found myself working full time in a high-pressure managerial role, without the time or energy to focus on my books, ideas and opportunities, let alone my family or friends.

In a season of complete overwhelm, bordering on burnout, I did something I hadn't done in a long time – I let go. Over the course of a year, I stepped down from my full-time role, surrendered the striving, handed over the uncertainty, and trusted that the direction God wanted for me would rise to the surface.

To my complete surprise, what bubbled up was a return to one-on-one work, amongst a couple of other creative projects.

No full website builds. No generic marketing advice. Something much more specific: taking an established service-based business – one with a clearly defined offer and a hungry market, but revenue that doesn't reflect either – and transforming its online presence into something that actually generates consistent, high-quality leads.

The clients I work best with have often spent thousands on ads, SEO or digital agencies – sometimes with results, sometimes without. Either way, they're dependent on time-consuming manual methods or paid activity to keep leads flowing. Stop pushing or paying, and the pipeline dries up. What they need isn't more striving or spend. It's a foundation strong enough to work without it.

That's exactly what the Secret Service methodology was built for.

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WHO I AM

I'm Laura de Lacy – Secret Service Marketer, author of The Secret Service Business Series, founder of Cyberstart and fully-fledged business nerd.

Secret Service Business is where my obsession with strategy, systems and the art of making marketing accessible for the little guy gets to run free.

I'm guided by faith, integrity and a genuine love for the people I work with – I only take on clients I'd be comfortable having over for dinner (metaphorically speaking, that is... I'm definitely better at business than cooking 😆).

I live in Adelaide, near the McLaren Vale wine region, with my son, our dog Charlie, and Sunny the budgie – who compete with each other on comedic prowess and strength of will.

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WHAT I STAND FOR

• I believe marketing should serve people, not manipulate them.
• I believe small businesses deserve the same quality of thinking that big ones receive – without the jargon, the ongoing inflated retainers, or the strategies designed for businesses with unlimited budgets.
• I believe integrity isn't a differentiator. It's a baseline.
• And I believe the best work happens when you're doing what you were made to do, in service of people you genuinely want to see thrive.

That's what guides everything I create – the books, the tools, and my one-on-one Secret Service Resets (a mix of strategic consulting and hands-on implementation for a set timeframe).

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If you've read this far, something about what I do probably resonates with the way you think.

I'm not actively seeking more one-on-one clients right now, but I'm open to expressions of interest. If you fit the description above and feel drawn to what I do, I'd love to hear from you.

Laura de Lacy
Secret Service Marketer & Author