Facing problem with dropdownlist values null

Hi 
When i click on the button i am facing this error message: "Conversion failed when converting the nvarchar value 'Year From:' to data type int." as the first listitem is just as a message to user about what this dropdownlist is for and its not as a value. So what i have to do to avoid this error :-(

<asp:DropDownList ID="barndcardrlst1" runat="server" AutoPostBack="True" > <asp:ListItem Value="">Select Brand</asp:ListItem> <asp:ListItem Value="Abarth">Abarth</asp:ListItem> <asp:ListItem Value="Alfa Romeo">Alfa Romeo</asp:ListItem> <asp:ListItem Value="Acura">Acura</asp:ListItem> <asp:ListItem Value="Aston Mar ...