In the age of algorithmic fatigue, most brands are desperate. They interrupt your feed with “Buy Now” stickers, flash sales, and desperate hooks. But Dale Brisby, the founder of Rodeo Time and the star of Netflix’s How to Be a Cowboy, has a different strategy. He ignores the hard sell almost entirely.
In his recent sit-down on Y’all Street, Brisby outlined a content philosophy that bridges the gap between the ranch and the boardroom. It isn’t about ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) or CPC (Cost Per Click)—it’s about the “Value-to-Ask” ratio.
The 75-to-1 Ratio
Brisby admits that his apparel line, Rodeo Time Inc., is the primary driver of his empire’s revenue. Yet, if you scroll through his social media, you will rarely see a shirt being pitched.
“If you look at my page… you might go past 75 posts before you see that I have an apparel line,” Brisby told Tarek. “I’m providing a lot of value before I ask for anything in return.”
This is the “Rodeo Time Rule.” Most companies view content as a means to facilitate a transaction. Brisby views content as a vessel for a relationship. By focusing 99% of his energy on making the audience laugh, feel seen, or learn something about the western lifestyle, he earns the social capital required to make the “ask” when it counts. When he finally drops a “Buy One, Get One” sale in December, the audience converts not because they were sold to, but because they are fans.
“If any brand can do their own media, to me, that’s just like you’ve got your finger on the pulse of what you want to be represented like.”
Dale Brisby
Internalize Your Media
A key friction point for many growing “Y’all Street” businesses is the decision to outsource marketing. Agencies promise scale, but Brisby warns that they often cost you your soul.
“Even if you don’t continue to do it forever… if you can do your own media, you’ve got your finger on the pulse,” Brisby explains.
Brisby employs a full in-house media team—editors, videographers, and producers—who work out of the same warehouse as his apparel logistics team. By keeping production in-house, the content retains the ranch’s grit and authenticity. When he tried to create a sizzle reel with an external production company for Netflix, he hated the result because it lacked the nuance of the culture. Authenticity cannot be outsourced to a firm that doesn’t live the lifestyle.
The Counter-Intuitive Drive
Perhaps the most poignant lesson from Brisby comes from his background in bull riding. He describes the sport as fundamentally “counter-intuitive.”
“When the bull pushes off on his front end, you’ve got to counterbalance that… you’ve got to drive over the front,” Brisby says. “Your intuition takes over, and you want to lean back. Well, that’s going to get you whipped down.”
Business requires the same counterintuitive discipline. When the economy tightens or sales dip, the intuition is to pull back, cut marketing spend, and retreat to safety. The “cowboy way,” however, is to drive over the front—to lean into the danger, produce more content, and stay visible when everyone else is hiding.
Ready to watch Dale Brisby break down the daily discipline of building a Western empire? Watch Ep 25 on Y’all Street here.
