I have a network of 189 related websites with one main index site. It make sense that cross-linking will effectively cancel out any link juice, so how do I link the sites? Initially I was going to use the same footer on each site with text links to every site. While this might be the easiest, it's not the smartest is it?
I use vBulletin and I have a code I believe its <div class=alt1> or something and it adds a nice box which I have and I linked to 2 sites already but for 189 that might get a little crowded. Try to maybe make 1 site maybe a little directory of ALL the domains like a homepage with a link to every site and just link to that ONE site instead of 189.
It seems like the only way to not cancel out all the other links is to link to all 189 from the main site but not have any of the sites link back to the main one!