Why I Tell Sellers My Values in Every Ad

By Drew Haney · Founder, Rooster Capital · May 2, 2026

Every ad I run names what I stand for, who I am, and what kind of buyer or seller I'm trying to attract. Most land flippers think this is a marketing mistake — that you'll narrow your funnel. They're missing what's actually happening: the wrong-fit prospects exit early, and the right-fit ones convert at a much higher rate.

The line in every ad

"I say that in every single ad. And so if you wanna buy from me, you're probably gonna have the same values. If you don't wanna buy from me, you're not gonna buy from me — and I'm okay with that. So I think it's being true to who you are and telling the world why you are different. And just representing yourself accurately." — Drew, on Landfans Podcast (April 2023)

I'm a Christian, an Army vet, a father of three. I run a small family business. Those facts go in the ad. People who don't want to buy from someone with that profile self-select out before we ever exchange a phone call. That's a feature, not a bug.

The math of self-selection

Most marketers operate on a "more leads = more deals" model. That's only true if all leads convert at the same rate. They don't.

Lower top-of-funnel, higher bottom. Less time wasted on the prospects that were never going to close anyway. Tighter conversations, less negotiation friction, fewer post-close issues.

This is also a brand-protection move

The ads you run are also recruiting your future customer service workload. If you write generic, price-led ads, you attract people whose entire engagement with you is going to be price-led. They'll squeeze on every dollar. They'll complain about anything. They'll write the review you don't want.

If you write ads that pre-qualify on values and approach, you attract people who are ready to engage on those terms. The post-close experience is materially different. So is the referral rate.

For funders, the same logic applies

Rooster Capital's positioning has the same self-selection built in. We say up front: long relationships, no junk fees, slow when needed, fast when right, partnership over transaction. Operators who want a vending-machine experience — submit deal, get fastest possible quote, ghost — usually self-select out. The operators we want stay.

That's why our blog reads more like a journal than a sales page. Every post is an opportunity for the wrong-fit prospect to disqualify themselves.

What this looks like in practice

If you're going to try this, the failure mode is faking it. Don't list values in your ad that don't actually drive your business. People can smell rehearsed values copy from a mile away. The reason this works for me is that the values are how I run the business, so when a buyer or seller engages with me on that basis, the experience matches the marketing.

The shortcut

If you're not sure what to say, ask: "Who do I genuinely want to do business with for the next 10 years?" Then put a one-line description of that person in your ad. The customer base will start to look like that description. And so will the operating experience.