An O'Neil Associates/ASBA Arizona Economic Indicators Monitor poll of small-business owners in Arizona found that 44 percent of those entrepreneurs oppose spending public funds on hosting an NFL Super Bowl in their communities.

The results, reported in the Phoenix Business Journal, indicate that 66 percent of the business owners polled would support a Super Bowl if they felt the conditions would be advantageous, however.

As an entrepreneur, it's natural for you to think your product or service is the only one of its kind. It's like being a parent: All parents think their children are beautiful and unique snowflakes. Only in small doses do you start to find out you might be wrong. And it even happens to the big boys.

This week, a European court blocked a bid by Lego to trademark the shape of its bricks. Legal mumbo jumbo aside, this is a big deal. After all, if any company deserves a trademark for a shape, it's got to be Lego, right?

I give up.

I can no longer lie and say that I understand the pet industry. I can't. It's too hard.

There are so many things in life that I can't quite comprehend: yogurt as a trend, paying over $100 for dirty jeans, how Amy Winehouse is still alive, why Peter Cook cheated on Christie Brinkley and now...the pet industry altogether.

A Small Business Administration report (PDF) released this month finds that immigrants in the United States are 30 percent more likely to start a business than native-born Americans. The research, conducted by UC Santa Cruz professor Robert W. Farlie on behalf of the SBA's Office of Advocacy, finds that immigrant-spawned enterprises generate $67 billion annually--11.6 percent of American business revenue.

"Immigrant business owners make important contributions to the U.S. economy," Farlie states. "They start 16.7 percent of all new businesses in the United States and represent 12.5 percent of all business owners."

Retail store owners should be happy. Record numbers of people are looking for part-time jobs this holiday season. The bad news kinda offsets that bit of news, however.

Whereas most holiday seasons see people searching for retail jobs as a way to boost their short-term income or as a way to get out of the house for a few months and earn some extra holiday cash, too many of this year's job seekers are looking for whatever work they can find because they've been laid off, many from the retail sector itself.

In an economy that's uncertain at best, everyone seems to have an offer that will help you and your business save a few bucks here and there.

But what if you could actually take an important step forward in your business and save money at the same time? Well, for one day only, you can.

Two or three weeks ago, I started my own website called Fake Book Covers. It's based on an oddball hobby, but I'm going to try to figure out the web industry.

Let me explain.

Recently, I discovered Photoshop on my computer at work. I was immediately addicted and began making fake book covers out of any pictures I could find on my desktop. My co-worker Cheryl saw what I was doing and thought it was funny. So I made her one. Soon, I was making fake book covers for other co-workers and sending them around the office. I posted a few for laughs on a social networking site.

If you're purchasing phones for the office and you want to know which one is the bestseller among individual consumers, a report today indicates that the Apple iPhone 3G has just taken top-seller status in the United States.

According to research from the NPD Group, the iPhone 3G, which sells for as little as $199--down from the last generation iPhone's $399 entry level--has overtaken the ubiquitous Motorola RAZR flip phone as the king of American mobile phones. Both were designed in the U.S.

Many advertisers are changing their tunes to accompany the trying economic times. Where aiming at "aspirational" customers with visions of luxury was once the norm, marketing campaigns are toning things down and emphasizing value.

The New York Times today notes that advertisements that once used mansions as backgrounds are now going downscale with more frugal settings. Coupons are being featured in display ads that once emphasized exclusivity. And even high-end items such as furs have been seen listed at 50 percent off.

Smarting from the success of Google and other easy-to-use advertising platforms, the Orange County Register newspaper group in Santa Ana, Calif., recently announced a new self-service online ad tool that lets small-business owners log in and create their own targeted ad campaigns in its hardcopy publications for as little as $55 for a single-color display.

"The Express Ads tool is ideally suited for advertisers who regularly conduct business transactions online, and would prefer a self-service option to manage their print advertising," says Georgette Simmons, business development manager at Orange County Register Communications. "It's a user-friendly and affordable way to place ads in a matter of minutes, and offers a practical solution for businesses that do not have time to consult with a sales representative."

I always wonder what entrepreneurs are really like when they're not talking business. So, I decided to start asking questions that they may prefer to answer (as well as fancy business questions, too). The questions also let them seem a little more real and approachable.

This week, Monica Burnett!

Now...here are... IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!

The Beatles Question
Who is your favorite Beatle and why?
Ringo, because in the '70s, he visited Disneyland while my dad was working there. And I quote (British accent) "See that man over there? His Disneyland jacket is more important than he is."

Online review site Yelp launched a free new marketing tool today called "About This Business," which allows small-business owners to share their story with the public on their business's Yelp page.

Stories can include a company's specialties, a short history, an introduction to the manager/owner of the business and five other recommended businesses. Business owners can set up the feature by visiting biz.yelp.com to create a free account.

During the presidential campaign, a lot was made about what each candidate would or wouldn't do for small business--so much so that a guy whose name wasn't really Joe and who wasn't really a plumber became a national figure by asking how Barack Obama's tax plan might affect the hypothetical small business he couldn't afford to buy.

Now that it's all said and done, it would be easy to start worrying about what Barack Obama will do for small businesses as president. But rather than speculate, why not just take a close look at how Obama ran his campaign, which in itself was more than a little entrepreneurial.

Being a PR rep seems terrifying. Pitching ideas is hard. Pitching people is harder. However, I know what kind of PR rep makes an entrepreneurial client look bad.

A couple of weeks ago, while a meeting with me, the research editor here at Entrepreneur, James Park, had a bad phone conversation. The PR rep on the other end was pitching her entrepreneur.