These statistics really surprised me, so I decided to post them for you to discuss.

I had no idea that air traffic controllers get paid so much and how about the salary of the everyday flight attendants? Unbelievable…I’m definitely in the wrong field of work (lol).

Gaming Managers, as stated below, are the individuals who manage casino floors and such. You can find out more surprisingly high salaries at Forbes.com

1. Flight Attendants
Top 10% earn $102,660 a year
Average annual salary: $62,880

2. Farm, Ranch and Other Agricultural Managers
Top 10% earn $103,660 a year
Average annual salary: $61,030

3. Gaming Managers
Top 10% earn $106,220 a year
Average annual salary: $69,600

4. Air Traffic Controllers
Top 10% earn $141,860
Average annual salary: $107,780

5. Database Administrator
Top 10% earn $106,860 a year
Average annual salary: $70,260

In local news, an 11 year old girl from New Ulm has taken up an unlikely hobby that looks to benefit the environment. 11 year old Kennedi Kokesch makes all these bird feeders with recycled glass. After seeing glass being thrown away, and into garbage bins, at a local business, she had a creative epiphany. Kennedi Kokesch says, ”I asked them is this going to a landfill or are you throwing this away? And they said they’re gonna throw it away, and that just got me interested.”Interested in re-using that glass, to create beautiful and unique bird feeders. read all »

Ever consider quitting your job and working from home? Well, a local couple has done just that and it has paid off for them.

Instead of working a 9 to 5 job, Daniel Porter and wife April, stay at home with their three young daughters and work from their computer selling on eBay, specializing in golf clubs. read all »

Doug Knippel was looking at his compost a few years back and noticed a group of redworms crawling around in the dirt. That’s when he began to unearth his business plan. read all »

Every family has a pile somewhere of their children’s drawings. Since culling out and saving the best works isn’t easy, two moms/entrepreneurs from New Jersey devised a solution: theART:archives. How it works? Parents send in their kids’ drawings and theART:archives team professionally photographs each one and sends back a DVD catalogue that can be viewed on a computer screen or TV. read all »

Long time statistics have shown that 9 out of 10 new businesses fail in their first year. Lack of planning and financial ruin is one of the most common causes. Starting small is a way to insure minimal risk in new business. The founder of Dell computers was a college dropout on a shoe-string budget who started his business out of his garage. One in three computers sold today is a Dell.

The following is a list of just some of the businesses you can start for $500 or less.

1. Housekeeping - Requirements/ household cleaners, mop, broom, vacuum, towels, bucket, business cards - approximate cost $150. Molly Maids is a multi-million dollar business started with a broom, a mop, and quality and reliable service. I can guarantee you that the CEO of Molly Maids doesn’t clean houses any longer. read all »

Plenty of companies sell log cabin kits. But Argos seems to be the first major retailer to market an attractive and affordable model that reportedly can be built in two days by just two people. read all »

The Power Washing Business is a lucrative business that most anyone can start and make a honest living. The start-up capital required is low and there isn’t expensive overhead required to keep your business running. In many areas there is low competition and high demand for both residential and commercial work. read all »

Previous Lives: High school students
Big Break: Teenagers at the dawn of the social media era
Bottom Line: MyYearbook.com has, at times, grown faster than Facebook or MySpace
Potential Income: up to $300k per year or more

Frustrated by a lack of social media sites strictly for teens, these three siblings from suburban New Jersey hatched a plan around the family dinner table three years ago to put high school yearbooks online. Catherine, the youngest, was only 16 years old at the time. Yet she convinced her older brother Geoff, a 26-year-old Harvard grad, to put up $250,000 from his own fledgling online business — and myYearbook.com was born. read all »

Texas Hold ‘em exploded as a national sensation in 2003, the year that ESPN first broadcast the World Series of Poker. By now, countless teens and college students have been drawn into the game by the proliferation of Internet gambling sites — there are now 2,400 of them — and the allure of easy money. read all »

When Swiss dairy farmer Paul Wyler and his wife Helga, were unable to sell as much cheese as they produced each year, they hit upon a great idea. ‘Why not rent our cows?’

A rent-a-cow business was born and the Wylers, who run a 50-head farm in the Brienz area, managed to rent some of their cows to a few local restaurants. read all »

How’s this for another crazy idea? Would you buy a crumpled up piece of paper?

Well, whatever your opinion, this site sure is generating a ton of sales. The webmaster sells an ‘Origami Boulder’, which is actually a wadded bit of paper!

For just $ 3, he’ll crumple up a piecec of paper, call it an Origami Boulder, and email you with a brief description. He also offers you the choice of selecting a ‘deluxe’ kit. read all »

Business Idea: Camping Classes

Camping is an outdoors recreational pastime enjoyed by millions of people across North America. Thus, starting a “how-to camp” instructional business that teaches novice campers and hikers practical information and tips on how to safely go camping is an extremely low-cost business start-up that can potentially generate fabulous profits. read all »

Leave it to 8-year-olds to come up a terrific business idea and invention…a remedy for a problem that most adults probably forgot even existed: the dreaded wedgie.

Jared and Justin Serovich were messing around one day, giving each other wedgies, when mom’s partner joked about the need for wedgie-proof underwear. Little twin lightbulbs must have gone off in the third-graders’ heads, because it wasn’t long before they unveiled the “Rip Away 1000.” read all »

My business is designing and laminating bookmarks for wedding favors, business promotions, nonprofit organizations, holidays and other special occasions or projects. I design them on my computer, depending on what the customer wants. Then I print and laminate them.

I came up with the idea of a bookmark business because it was a fun way to express my creativity and would require a low investment. read all »