Week

Four
During the fourth week of my internship, I wrote competitor audits for a client and drafted a press
release for one clients business report.

Competitor Audit
Case Design
Social Media Summary + Observations:
Observations: No Twitter presence for Bruce Case, President of Case Designs. Note strengths and weaknesses?
Twitter:
2,503 Followers
3,862 Tweets
Avg tweets: Once a day; very little response engagement (a like here, a retweet there, typically no more
than one retweet/like per tweet)
Active on Twitter since 2009
Facebook:
590 Likes, not increasing very quickly
22 visits
Very little activity from other facebook-ers
10 reviews
Instagram:
26 posts total (since Aug. 2014)
58 followers
48 following
More likely to receive likes than Facebook/Twitter equivalents
Pinterest:
78 Boards/3,605 pins
1,834 likes
612 followers
943 following
Pin a lot of home interior/exteriors, the occasional recipe
YouTube:
Only one video is less than a year old; it appears that they posted frequently a few years ago, but not in the
past year or so
30 videos, with view counts ranging from 60 to nearly 1,000 (approximately)
Houzz:
1,375 Followers
1,242 Following
15 Reviews
7 Houzz Badges including Best of Houzz Design and Service 2015
Appear to respond to questions once a week or so
175 Projects
14 Ideabooks
Very positive reviews (mostly 5 stars, the occasional 4 star, only one 3 star rating)

News Summary + Coverage:
Coverage in the past year:
Ask a Remodeler: Case Designs Lisa Magee on Kitchens and Baths, The Washingtonian

Q and A session with Case Designer.
Beautiful Bathroom Resources 2014: Bath Designers and Builders, The Washingtonian
List of home renovation companies.

Tool Library for gardeners, The Washington Post

Short article about Case Designs pro bono work with a local library.

The Enduring Appeal of Chevy Chase, D.C., The Washington Post

Article (in slideshow/picture format) discusses a home in Chevy Chase that Case Design remodeled. Story appears to
be a mash-up of several homes in the Chevy Chase area. Heres a duplicate article (minus all the photos):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/hot-neighborhood-enduring-appeal-chevy-chase-
dc/2014/04/25/b4ff83bc-bb47-11e3-9c3c-311301e2167d_story.html
Ibby Web site enables homeowners to price a bathroom renovation, The Washington Post
The article promotes Case Designs Ibby website, which allows homeowners to design a virtual room with
renovations, and provides an estimated cost.

Peterson + Collins
Social media summary:
Oddly, Peterson + Collins lacks any sort of social media presence. The company does have a Houzz account, created in
January 2015, but it lacks any sort of posts.

Media summary:
According to the Peterson + Collins website, the company had media hits from more than 12 different outlets, not
including items published in books. However, when I tried to find these articles online, many of the magazines were
either out of print (Metropolitan Home Magazine, for example) or lack a website (Qualified Remodeler Magazine). I did
find a few articles, but they all dated back to 2012, if not older). There was a revealing article written in 2011 about how
the company has been significantly impacted by the recession, so perhaps the company couldnt afford to keep a PR
firm?

Here are the articles:
Peterson and Collins Put Faith in Its Employees To Get Through the Recession, BuilderOnline.com
Nevis Pool and Garden Pavilion, BuilderOnline.com
Jewel in the Rough, HomeandDesign.com
Team Work, HomeandDesign.com

Press Release

!
!For!Immediate!Release!!
!Feb.!XX,!2014
!
!
!
!
!

!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Media&Contacts:!
!!!!!!!!!!!!Laura!Van!Eperen,!laurav@veandco.com!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(301)!836E1516!x1!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Melissa!DiMercurio,!mdimercurio@veandco.com!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(301)!836E1516!x6!

&
&
Washington,&D.C.Despite!a!cool!2014!market!in!Northern!Virginia!and!Montgomery!County!neighborhoods,!the!
January!2015!report!reflected!a!9!percent!gain!in!dollar!volume!of!sales!and!a!4.6!percent!gain!in!average!price!as!
compared!to!January!2014!in!the!Washington,!D.C.!metropolitan!area.!&
!
In!2014,!the!sales!in!Northern!Virginia!and!Montgomery!County!trailed!behind!2013!sales!with!a!5!percent!decrease!in!
dollar!volume!of!sales!and!a!mere!.3!percent!increase!in!price,!as!compared!to!a!7!percent!increase!in!price!in!2013.!
Washington,!D.C.,!which!had!a!5!percent!gain!in!sales!and!a!5.2!percent!gain!in!prices,!was!the!only!thing!that!saved!
2014!from!dipping!below!2013!statistics.*!
!
Each!month,!Evers!and!Companys!Donna!Evers,!owner!and!broker,!reviews!the!residential!real!estate!statistics!provided!
by!the!Metropolitan+Regional+Information+System+(MRIS).!!!
!
Sales!were!sluggish!last!January!and!remained!that!way!the!whole!year.!However,!Im!happy!to!say!that!the!
marketplace!has!picked!up,!as!our!January!report!reveals,!said!Donna!Evers.!With!low!interest!rates!and!increased!
consumer!confidence,!I!believe!that!real!estate!markets!will!be!better!than!last!year!for!the!whole!area,!rather!than!just!
for!the!District.!
!
Evers!&!Company,!www.eversco.com,!remains!the!largest!independent,!womanEowned!and!run!real!estate!company!in!
the!metropolitan!area,!with!110!passionate!and!dedicated!agents!and!four!offices!!two!in!the!District,!one!in!
Bethesda/Chevy!Chase!and!one!in!Virginia.!Evers!&!Co.!also!has!an!international!membership!with!Leverage!Global!
Partners.!
!
For!more!information!about!local!metropolitan!Washington,!D.C.!neighborhoods,!please!go!to!www.eversco.com!or!call!
202.364.1700!for!a!knowledgeable!real!estate!agent!to!help!guide!you!through!the!selling!or!buying!process.!For!updates!
on!Washington,!D.C.!real!estate!connect!with!Evers!&!Company!on!Twitter!and!Facebook.!!!
!
*Statistics+are+compared+from+the+previous+year+and+taken+from+the+Metropolitan+Regional+Information+System+for+the+three+areas:+
Washington,+D.C.;+Montgomery+County,+Maryland;+and+Fairfax+County,+Arlington+and+Alexandria+in+Northern+Virginia.!+
+
###
About&Evers&&&Co.
Founded!in!1985!by!Donna!Evers,!Evers!&!Co.!Real!Estate,!Inc.!maintains!its!success!through!a!strong!referral!base!and!agents!who!
enjoy!a!premier!reputation!for!their!expertise!and!inEdepth!knowledge!of!Washington!Metro!Area!homes!and!neighborhoods.!Evers!
&!Co.!is!home!to!more!than!100!licensed!real!estate!professionals!with!decades!of!combined!experience,!who!enjoy!access!to!a!firstE
ofEitsEkind!Agent!Resource!Center.!The!agency!is!the!largest!womanEowned!andEoperated!residential!real!estate!firm!in!the!area!and!
a! member! of! Unique! Homes! Affiliate! Network,! Who's! Who! in! Luxury! Real! Estate! and! FIABCI,! the! largest! international! real! estate!
organization! in! the! world.! In! addition,! the! agency! has! an! alliance! with! My! Home! In! Paris,! a! residential! real! estate! firm! in! Paris,!
France.!!For!more!information!about!Evers!&!Co.!Real!Estate,!visit!www.eversco.com.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!