Torch Designs

10/14/2026

09/30/2026

09/15/2026

Something is up… 15 days. Huh?

09/15/2026

Is something coming? Hmmmm

08/07/2026

A family carryout in Beavercreek, Ohio is being sued by Buc-ee's over the beaver on its sign.

The town is named Beavercreek. It has been named that since settlers found beavers in the creek. The city council is voting on a resolution saying the beaver belongs to the city's history, and Governor DeWine called the lawsuit ridiculous. He's right about that.

Torch stands with Beaver's Mini Mart.

We work with small and mid-sized businesses every day. Manufacturers, engineers, accountants, contractors. These are the people who know their employees' kids by name, who sponsor the little league team, who cover payroll out of their own pocket in a slow month. Small businesses employ close to half the private workforce in this country and produce close to half the GDP. They are the backbone of the whole thing.

So when a chain with hundreds of millions in revenue spends its legal budget trying to erase a corner store's logo, we're not going to pretend that's a neutral business decision. It's a big company leaning on a small one because it can afford the lawyers and the small one can't.

Beavercreek has beavers. Let the man keep his sign.

An Ohio carryout is facing a trademark lawsuit from Buc-ee’s over its beaver logo, drawing support from local and state officials.

06/30/2026

Most job applications are boring. This one can't be.

We're hiring a Digital Marketing Associate at Torch Designs in Lakeland, Florida. Writing, social, short-form video for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube, growing into SEO and Google Ads over time. Part-time to start, in person, with a path to full-time.

Since it's a marketing role, skip the standard application. Send a resume and a creative piece that markets you and tells us why you're the one. Show off a little.

If that sounds like your kind of challenge, send it to [email protected]. And if you know someone who'd be perfect for it, send them this.

05/07/2026

If you have been in marketing long enough you know that the best time to get on a new platform is before everyone else figures out it exists.

OpenAI just opened its self-serve Ads Manager to US businesses. ChatGPT is now an ad platform. You can set budgets, manage campaigns, and buy on a cost per click basis directly through OpenAI without going through a big agency or spending a quarter million dollars to get in the door.

Here is the part worth paying attention to. The platform is still in early beta. That means low competition, lower costs, and users who are actively looking for solutions rather than passively scrolling a feed. People using ChatGPT are in research and decision making mode. That is a very different kind of attention than what you get on social media.

We have seen this pattern before. The businesses that got serious about Facebook ads in 2011 and Google ads in 2002 got returns that were never available again once the platforms matured and every competitor showed up with a budget.

This is not for every business right now. The platform is still being refined and not all categories are eligible. But if you are in local services, consumer goods, travel, or education, this is worth a conversation before your competitors have it first.

https://openai.com/index/new-ways-to-buy-chatgpt-ads/

OpenAI

OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with a beta self-serve Ads Manager, CPC bidding, and enhanced measurement tools—built to protect privacy and keep conversations separate from ads.