Thought I'd add more to this thread, because I did come across a blog network that looks pretty solid and may be worth your time to investigate.... it's GlobalBloggersNetwork.com.

What's different about this network is that they offer more in the way of benefits and resources, hence the monthly membership fee (although you can sign up for their newsletter for free). Some of their benefits include webinars, "ask the experts" Q&A opportunities, active promotion of member blogs, etc.

To be honest, I do think your website is more advanced than most of the blogs they would attract, and your depth of knowledge is such that I'm guessing you know as much, if not more, than participants on their experts panel, but there still may be some benefit to being able to take advantage of their ability to help promote your site.

If I come across any other blog networks that I think would be a good fit for you, I'll let you know.

I realized after reading your response that my reply may have been unclear. OR perhaps I didn't understand your question.

Here's what I got out of your question: "How do I grow my site beyond what it's already achieved". Is that accurate? Please let me know if I misunderstood the question.

I wasn't trying to suggest that you should change your site, because it's a great site (as I already said) and has a lot of good content.

I WAS trying to suggest that you more clearly define your targeted purpose, in order to better position it for further growth. I like your site, but I still don't get what its purpose is. Are you trying to sell travel? Or are you trying to provide stories about travel (literature)? Or are you trying to help travelers with traditional service pieces? The reason I can't tell is that your site is a mix of all of those, with some non-travel content thrown in (the Camera Talk is interesting, but not travel related. Yes I know travelers take photos, but the majority of people don't go to travel sites for photography tips, they go to photography sites).

Any of those are viable goals, but the direction you go in will differ vastly based on which is your primary goal.

What I was trying to say is that I think the only thing your site needs is focus. Notice I did not say niche - focus is different....it's deciding where you want to take your site, identify the top competitors in that market, and model yourself after them. There's a reason they got to be as large as they are, so tap into that reason. Focus is what will help you break through your plateau in any significant way.

The idea of a network supporting each other is a great idea, on paper that is, but in reality they rarely live up to their potential, and eventually fade away. Why? Because it takes a great deal of work to support a network properly, and most site owners are too busy trying to grow their own sites to throw themselves into the work that a network requires - they start out strong, and peter out as other things get in the way. 9Rules is a perfect example, but there are dozens more - I see badges all the time on sites for blog/website networks that no longer exist. The badge looks nice, but doesn't do anything for you.

That's why, while I like networks and don't want to discourage anyone from giving it a try, I really think that if your ultimate goal is to grow your site beyond it's current audience, you should focus more on your site than on a network or other blogs. You have a great foundation, it just needs a direction.

Hey Trisha,
I appreciate your time and I am familiar with your points. However, I would disagree with your notion that a niche in a competitive market is the way to go because of my personal experience doing the opposite. ITKT has already sent me (and many of my writers) all over the world because of how much the site covers and the amount of advertisers and travel professionals are familiar with it. Had I gone with a niche, ITKT would have been finished ages ago as travel within itself is an expansive topic. I can also assure that while some sites are much bigger than mine, there is a ton of overlap in readership from site to site. People who are interested in travel don't just visit one site, they visit many. Again, I can say this from experience and from the direct letters I get from readers. This is why building a network makes sense because there is plenty to go around.

You have an enormous challenge with your site, because you don't fit into a niche, and that leaves you competing against a slew of larger, better funded travel-related sites. You have some great content, written by a few good writers and a slew of decent writers, but that's not enough to break through your plateau and hit the big leagues. And to be honest, while you have a great site, I really can't tell what your goal is with it, what your market is.

Think first about these questions: Who is your site for? What audience are you trying to reach? Who are you trying to compete against? Is your goal to sell travel, or just to tell stories?

If you're trying to reach people looking for destination reviews, then you're competing against TripAdvisor, Yahoo Travel, AOL Travel, and several other already well-branded review sites.

If you're trying to reach people looking for general travel literature, then you're competing against MatadorNetwork, BootsnAll, WorldHum, and countless others who offer either great literature (WorldHum), great adventure (BootsnAll), or a great community (Matador).

If you're trying to reach people looking to book travel, then you're competing against Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Kayak, Hotwire, Hotels.com, etc.

All of those sites are some pretty stiff competition.

I really think what you need to do is first determine where you want to position ITKT, what target audience you're trying most to reach (your market), and then model yourself after the competition in that market, with the goal of either doing better than they are, or doing as well as you possibly can to stay in that pack.

Also, once it's clear exactly where you want to fit in, then I think you'll be able to get better advice on how to continue to grow.

As I know a number of us have blogs that we work hard on. Sadly it is a big world out there in those darn Internets and all the SEO, link backs and endless competition doesn't make for creating spectacular readership overnight. It is a grind. I have been doing it for a while and have developed a good readership. But I am wondering what the next step might look like for further growth and how to get other travel writing types to band together to help our own cause.

After all, this is Travel Writers Exchange. I have a few ideas, but before I throw them out there I wanted to see what the level of interest might be.

Any thoughts?
devin