There's been a lot of great advice so far but I think making the jump really depends on where you are in life and where you'd like to be. Are you married or sin

There's been a lot of great advice so far but I think making the jump really depends on where you are in life and where you'd like to be. Are you married or single? Do you have a family you need to support? Do you have a mortgage or other loans? Can you afford your own health insurance? Can you continue to work in your current location and maintain a healthy and sustainable lifestyle? Can you start investing more in yourself and freelance (savings, 401k, IRA, continuing education, travel, etc)? I made a similar jump two years ago and found oDesk/Elance/etc to be fairly sustainable source of income/jobs once you've demonstrable experience (either through their platform, your blog, github, referrals, etc). While not necessarily a rule I found the higher rate (should be proportional to your experience on oDesk, etc) tends to match up with the more fulfilling gigs and interesting clients using those platforms. While I agree with Patrick that you should stop sourcing gigs from oDesk/elance/etc you should also establish yourself and feel fairly comfortable running a consulting/freelance business before taking on 'professional clients'.